Revisionists

Revise not the history. It bastardizes ultimate sacrifice of the Filipino men and women who lost their life, limb and liberty to free the country from plunder, corruption and other forms of betrayal of public trust. A people who distort its past will misunderstand its present and screw up its future. Let history stay as it is, the past can never be undone, no matter who gets hurt.

Except when you’re a Filipino athlete who rewrites history. Hidilyn Diaz did it first when she won the first Olympic gold last year. Alex Eala won a historic juniors singles crown at the US Open this year, the first by a Filipino, man or woman. Now she is ranked 252 in the world, the highest placement of a Filipina singles player in women’s tennis history.

Kai Sotto sternly warned he is ready and worthy to play in the NBA. He helped the Adelaide 36ers stun the Phoenix Suns at a preseason game in Arizona with impressive statistics. The Filipino stilt stole twice, rebounded twice, assisted once and scored 11 points that maximized his central presence during an 18-minute playtime.

EJ Obiena is now ranked world number three in pole vault. After winning a historic bronze in the worlds, Obiena rewrote his own continental record, stunned the world champion and record holder to become the only Filipino to win in the Diamond League. Elsewhere he won at least six gold medals in European meets to cap the best season of his career. No, he has not peaked yet. He continues to prepare his winged legs to breach the 6-meter unreachable plateau. He could, if he picks the right stick and sticks to his tricks. Just as the country expects the dollar exchanges to 60 pesos before yearend.

Gymnast Carlos Yulo continues to dominate the floor exercise in Asia and elsewhere. He won gold in the All-Japan Senior Championships but skipped the other events after he fell from the horizontal bar and suffered minor hand injury. He is expected to fully recover in time for the worlds later this month where he defends his vault crown and redeems himself in floor exercise.

The Philippine women’s football team also made history when it won the country’s first federation women’s regional championship. Team Malditas reached the quarterfinals in the Asian qualifiers en route to qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time.

All historic, all stunning, all heart warming we may be tempted to say we have arrived. Not yet, for we never took off to begin with. But how do we explain relative Philippine success in international competitions? We must be doing something right somewhere. But if we can’t identify the reason for winning, there is still something wrong right here. If government does not complement and just bask in compliments, it must be the athlete’s sheer talent or hard work. Without either or both, it would be nothing but a fluke. Otherwise known as the Philippine sports program.