A shining tribute to our sports stars
Our Philippine sports heroes should be treated like heroes!
Unfortunately, with the advent of the Internet and social media, so much information is now available at our fingertips that the exploits of our star athletes of yesteryear get buried amid all the piles of current news.
That is why it was so heartwarming to see “Gabi ng Pagpupugay,” an event which showcased our sports heroes and everything they were able to do in the international arena.
This was a project of my good friend Chino Trinidad, a veteran sportscaster, who personally witnessed a lot of our athletes set records abroad, and felt that this generation needed to be educated on what our athletes have been able to achieve to inspire them towards excellence in the future.
The entertaining two-and-a-half-hour event honored 19 of our greatest sports heroes: bowlers Paeng Nepomuceno, Olivia “Bong” Coo, Arianne Cerdena, Lita dela Rosa; boxers Pancho Villa, Gabriel “”Flash” Elorde, Ceferino Garcia, Anthony Villanueva, Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco, and Manny Pacquiao; cue master Efren “Bata” Reyes; chess master Eugene Torre; football legend Paulino Alcantara; basketball icon Carlos “The Big Difference” Loyzaga; swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso; tracksters Simeon Toribio and Miguel White; golfer Ben Arda; and tennis star Felicisimo Ampon.
The awards night was actually the culminating event of the two-week-long exhibit celebrating a hundred years of Philippine sports at the lobby of the Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila.
The murals, by Alfredo Galvez, of the 19 awardees were displayed together with works from other artists. There were also uniforms, medals, mementos, and vintage photos from the Vicente Avena collection.
The awards night had performances from Mitoy Yoting, The Voice Philippines winner, the Mandaluyong Children’s Choir, and the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Chino’s brother Sebastian Trinidad.
Other athletes like Denver Cuello, Chieffy Caligdong, Elma Muros-Posadas, Felix Barrientos, and Eric Buhain joined the night to speak and introduce the honorees, which showed just how inspired they were by the stars that came before them.
And that was the whole point of this event.
* * *
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @anthonysuntay, and like my Facebook page: Anthony Suntay.
