Dejaño stresses life-saving skills as Cesafi rolls out athlete safety program

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Longtime Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) league physician Dr. Rhoel Dejaño stressed the importance of life-saving skills as the league launched a new athlete-safety initiative ahead of the 2026-2027 season.

Dejaño led the program during its kickoff on Saturday, August 8, at the University of the Visayas (UV) Gymnasium, where Cesafi conducted free Basic Life Support (BLS) training and electrocardiogram (ECG) screening for coaches, student-athletes, and referees.

The Philippine Heart Association (PHA) Visayas Chapter, headed by chapter president Dr. Christie Anne Inso, facilitated the BLS training and provided participants with hands-on instruction on how to respond to life-threatening emergencies. The ECG screening, meanwhile, was conducted to help identify possible cardiac abnormalities among student-athletes.

More than 100 student-athletes and sports officials from various Cesafi member schools took part in the program, which aimed to equip participants with practical skills that could prove crucial during medical emergencies in training or competition.

Dejaño said the initiative makes Cesafi the first inter-school sports league in the country, to his knowledge, to undertake a program combining BLS training and ECG screening on this scale.

For Dejaño, basic life-saving skills should be an essential part of sports participation, particularly in Cesafi, where athletes compete in highly physical and demanding events.

“Learning basic life support and providing ECG are critical in sports, especially in Cesafi. I’m proud to say that we’re the only league in the whole Philippines to come up with this,” Dejaño said.

He was particularly pleased to see student-athletes learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which can be critical in cases of cardiac arrest.

“I was glad to see student-athletes learning how to save a life through CPR, which is very crucial during a cardiac arrest during a game or a match in sports. Applying CPR to a person suffering from cardiac arrest saves a life,” he said.

Dejaño, who also chairs both the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) and the Cebu Provincial Sports Commission (CPSC), said he plans to explore expanding the athlete-safety initiative to both sports bodies.

He thanked the PHA, Cesafi commissioner Felix “Boy” Tiukinhoy, Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro, and Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival for supporting the program.

The initiative is also aligned with the spirit of Republic Act No. 10871, or the Basic Life Support Training in Schools Act, commonly known as the Samboy Lim Law. The law requires public and private basic education schools to provide students with age-appropriate BLS training.

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