PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – Arvin Naeem Taguinota II of Pasig City and Sophia Rose Garra of Malabon City collected their third gold medals Monday in the Batang Pinoy National Championships at the Ramon V. Mitra Jr. Sports Complex pool here.

Taguinota ruled the boys' 12-13 200-meter backstroke event in 2:19.88, beating Behrouz Mohammad Mojdeh of Parañaque City (2:24.49) and Titus Rafael Sia of San Juan City (2:26.24).

He also won the 100m and 200m freestyle events last Sunday.

In the girls' 12-13 200m backstroke event, Garra triumphed in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:30.00. She beat Anika Kathryn Matiling of Bacolod City (2:38.82) and Angella Tane Perez of Kidapawan (2:44.45).

Her other victories were in the 100m freestyle and 200m Individual Medley events.

Meanwhile, Jaime Uaandor Maniago and Patrick Anthony Vidal also ruled their respective events as Quezon City stayed on top of the medal tally board with nine golds, 10 silvers and 13 bronzes, as of 3 p.m.

Maniago set a new record in the boys' 16-17 100m breaststroke event, clocking 1:06.78 to erase the 1:07.66 mark established by Pasig City's Morie Pabalan last year.

Joaquin Taguinod of Santiago City (1:07.37) and Miguel Luis Martinez of Pasig City (1:08.28) bagged the silver and bronze, respectively.

Vidal, on the other hand, claimed victory in the boys' 16-17 50m butterfly with a time of 26.25 seconds, prevailing over Albert Jose Amaro II of Naga City (26.36) and Ryan Zach Danzel Belen of San Fernando, La Union (26.51).

Pasig City is in second place with eight golds, five silvers and 14 bronzes, followed by Baguio City, which has seven golds, seven silvers and eight bronzes.

The tournament, which was organized by the Philippine Sports Commission, will award PHP5 million in cash to the overall champion local government unit. The second to fifth placers will get PHP4 million, PHP3 million, PHP2 million and PHP1 million. (PNA)