Yes, we can

For a long time, there were Filipinos who wondered if athletic prowess is a genetic or racial thing. Or is athletic underperformance a matter of poor nutrition arising from poverty, which leads to physical and mental stunting?

Manny Pacquiao was the first to dramatically prove these suspicions wrong. Through his own skills, which he honed with determination and discipline, Pacquiao has achieved greatness in professional boxing, in the process leaping from extreme poverty to billionaire status and a mansion in Forbes Park.

People sighed that Pinoys were too focused on basketball – a sport where height matters, obviously putting shorter or physically stunted players at a disadvantage. Pacquiao showed that in events where competitors with similar body builds are matched, Pinoys have a fighting chance.

Despite Pacquiao’s phenomenal boxing feats, there remained the Holy Grail of athletics: the Olympics. The Philippines had been participating in the Summer Games since the inaugural meet in 1924 in Paris, but took only a handful of medals starting with bronze, bagging its first silver only in 1964.

We consoled ourselves with the thought that winning isn’t everything. Yet we wondered why even impoverished participants from conflict-torn Ethiopia, which first participated in the Olympics in 1956, kept winning gold medals particularly in marathons. Was it simply a matter of longer legs?

Again, that suspicion about the role of genes and race. Is the Malay race not built for athletic excellence?

In Tokyo in 2021, this was proven wrong ­– by a Filipino, and a woman. Hidilyn Diaz made history by winning the first Olympic gold medal for the Philippines, in weightlifting.

Today the entire country is again celebrating after gymnast Carlos Yulo bagged not just one but two golds in Paris.

Both rightfully reaped millions in rewards from both the government and private sector.

Their feats are all the more appreciated because sports is one area where excellence cannot be achieved merely through connections and the right surname – the sure paths to advancement in life in our country. Yulo, Diaz and before them Pacquiao all came from modest backgrounds, with Pacquiao dirt-poor before punching his way to fame and well-earned fortune.

Some feared that the gold feat of Diaz was just tsamba, a fluke; Yulo’s twin golds have dispelled such fears.

Let’s hope that message inspires similar feats in other aspects of life in our country.

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In most of my travels overseas, foreigners have told me, upon learning that I’m a Filipino, that the Philippines is a land with so much potential. I know they mean well, but after several decades of hearing this, I’m tired of it and of waiting for the realization of our full potential.

Foreigners have also noted to me that Filipinos do well overseas, receiving praise for being so hardworking and efficient. I tell the foreigners that given a proper enabling environment that allows the cream to rise and people to advance on their own merit, Filipinos dream big – and work hard to attain it.

Our society is designed to reward connections rather than merit and hard work. Many fortunes are built not on industry, creativity or enterprise, but on political power, which thrives on patronage, which in turn feeds on poverty and undereducation. The system is sustained by keeping people poor, dependent on state dole-outs, and badly informed – about where taxes go and how the money is spent, about rights enshrined in law.

Excelling in academics is often trumped by surnames and connections, especially in government, business and many aspects of employment.

At least merit still trumps connections in areas requiring creativity, artistry, high intelligence and, yes, physical skills. Which is why there is so much appreciation for those who excel in sports, especially those who have succeeded despite great odds.

Pacquiao battled abject poverty. Hidilyn Diaz was tagged as part of a conspiracy to destabilize the Duterte administration, and was left mostly to fend for herself at the height of the COVID pandemic while she trained for the Tokyo Olympics.

Possibly thanks to Hidilyn’s gold feat, Carlos Yulo enjoyed more support in his Olympic quest, especially from the private sector.

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Perhaps this aiming for global renown will spread to other aspects of national life. We’ve been wringing our hands, for example, over the dismal performance of our 15-year-old students in mathematics, science, reading comprehension and creative thinking in the Program for International Student Assessment. But we’ve actually had students reap honors in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), although most of them are from private schools.

At the 65th IMO held in the United Kingdom last month, all six Filipino student participants won medals. Jerome Austin Te of Jubilee Christian Academy bagged a silver; Filbert Ephraim Wu of Victory Christian International School, Alvann Walter Paredes Dy of Saint Jude Catholic School and Luke Sebastian Sy of Grace Christian College brought home bronze medals while Ervin Joshua Bautista of Southville International School and Mohammad Nur Casib of Philippine Science High School (Central Mindanao) took honorable mentions.

Wu will be going to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US for college. His brother Farrell Eldrian has also won a gold, a silver, two bronze medals and an honorable mention in the IMO from 2013 to 2017.

A lot of things ail our nation’s sports development program. But for now, we can bask in the thought that whether in physical or mental prowess, fellow Pinoys, yes, we can!