Hall of Fame launched in historic rites

MANILA, Philippines - It took PSC chairman Harry Angping with his unflinching conviction to stage the first enshrinement ceremonies of the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame and he got the job done at the Maynila Ballroom of the Manila Hotel with a flourish the other night after an 11-year wait since the enactment of R. A. No. 8757 establishing the institution to immortalize the exploits of the country’s greatest athletes.

Angping, who was appointed to the PSC in February last year, was reminded of the law by National Shooting Association of the Philippines president Art Macapagal six months ago and made it a point to hold the inaugural induction before his term expires with the installation of a new Chief Executive in June.

“This is history,” said Angping. “We should cherish it. In other countries, there are museums and monuments built to honor great athletes as a source of national pride. The Sports Hall of Fame is our first step. Eventually, we hope to gather memorabilia for display in a museum. We recognize the honor and glory that our athletes have gained for our country. We want to remind our people of what they’ve done to inspire us with their dedication, sacrifice and discipline.”

Chief Justice Reynato Puno was the guest of honor and speaker who said the formula for success in sports can be used in taking the country to greater heights.

 “Discipline, teamwork, sportsmanship and a never say die attitude just as these four virtues have shown success for our country’s greatest athletes so can they drive our country triumphantly to higher development and progress,” Puno said in his 15-minute speech.

“It is thus necessary and crucial to integrate these values into our efforts of building our nation,” added Puno.

A former campus sportswriter, Puno spoke about the values one learns from sports and how a loss could lead to a reversal of fortunes as in the case of Flash Elorde who rebounded from a disputed defeat to Sandy Saddler to knock out Harold Gomes for the world junior lightweight boxing title and in the case of high jumper Simeon Toribio who missed a bronze medal at the 1928 Olympics but came back to win it in high jump at the 1932 Games. Puno lauded the 1954 Philippine team that took third place at the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro for working together as a unit and the father-and-son team of Cely and Anthony Villanueva for collecting Olympic medals 32 years apart.

The reigning world women’s poomsae team made up of Janice Lagman, Camille Alarilla and Rani Ortega made a cameo appearance to assist in the awarding of the plaques of enshrinement to the inductees.

Before the rites began, review and evaluation committee chairman Teddyvic Melendres explained the procedure of selecting the inductees. It was revealed that 43 nominees were considered but in the end, only nine individuals and one team were chosen for the first induction.

The first inductee was Asia’s pioneer world boxing champion Francisco (Pancho Villa) Guilledo who won the flyweight title via a seventh round knockout over Jimmy (The Mighty Atom) Wilde of Wales before 23,000 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York in 1923. Guilledo died of Ludwig’s angina in 1925, less than three weeks before he would have turned 24. His plaque and P100,000 were received by his daughter-in-law Ruth Catig-Guilledo.

The second inductee was swimmer Teofilo (The Ilocano Shark) Yldefonso, the first and only double Filipino Olympic medalist. He clocked 2:56.4 in the 200-meter breaststroke to bag the bronze at the 1928 Olympics and lowered his time to 2:47.1 to claim another bronze at the 1932 Games. In 20 years of competitive swimming, Yldefonso garnered over 140 medals. Yldefonso, a decorated soldier with the 57th Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Scouts, was killed in action in 1942 at the age of 40 defending Bataan during World War II. His Hawaii-born great grandson Daniel Coakley swam for the Philippines in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Yldefonso’s nephew Jose came to accept his plaque and cash.

The third inductee was Toribio, awarded the Helms World Trophy as Asia’s top athlete in 1930. The 5-11 high jumper used a standing scissors kick style to clear 6-5 5/8 for the bronze medal, beating American Cornelius Johnson, at the 1932 Olympics. He later earned a civil engineering degree at the University of Southern California, became a lawyer and served as congressman for the second district of Bohol in 1941-53. Toribio died in 1969 at the age of 63. Toribio’s grandson Erwin represented the Asian champion who ruled from 1927 to 1934.

The fourth inductee was Jose (Cely) Villanueva who pocketed a bronze as a bantamweight boxer at the 1932 Olympics. He later trained Flash Elorde and his son Anthony delivered the country’s first silver Olympic medal at the 1964 Tokyo Games. In 1983, Villanueva suffered a fatal heart attack while watching the Sugar Ray Leonard-Roberto Duran bout on TV. His grandson Avery received the plaque and cash.

The fifth inductee was Legazpi, Albay’s Miguel White who pocketed the bronze for clocking 52.8 seconds in the 400-meter low hurdles at the 1936 Olympics. First placer Glen Hardin of the US was timed in at 52.4 and silver medalist John Loaring of Canada, 52.7. A Philippine Army officer, White was killed in the line of duty during World War II. His daughter Dr. Thelma White Ajero arrived in his behalf.

The sixth inductee was former world middleweight boxing titlist Ceferino (Bolo Punch) Garcia who saw action in 141 bouts from 1934 to 1945. The Biliran brawler stopped Fred Apostoli to wrest the middleweight crown in New York in 1939 and turned back Glenn Lee in his first defense on a 13th round knockout at the Rizal Memorial that same year. Garcia, who once drew with the legendary Henry Armstrong, died in Los Angeles in 1981 at the age of 74. No relative has been ascertained to receive his award and prize.

The seventh inductee was basketball star Carlos Loyzaga, named to the world’s mythical first five at the 1954 World Championships where the Philippines placed third in Rio de Janeiro. Loyzaga, 79, lives in Australia and was represented by daughter Bing. Called the “Big Difference,” he was the 1954 tournament’s second top scorer with 148 points behind only Canada’s Carl Ridd with 164. Loyzaga was one of only four players to score at least 30 points in a game. A two-time Olympian, King Caloy anchored the Philippine teams that won the Asian Games gold medal in 1954, 1958 and 1962.

The eighth inductee was the entire Philippine team that took third place at the 1954 World Basketball Championships. The squad was composed of Loyzaga, Lauro Mumar, Bayani Amador, Florentino Bautista, Rafael Barreto, Nap Flores, Ben Francisco, Mon Manulat, Pacquing Rabat, Tony Genato, Nano Tolentino and Pons Saldana. Flores, Genato and Bautista came to receive their plaques and P50,000 each. Francisco’s widow Felicitas and son Gerard, a former PBA cager, attended. Saldana’s daughter Teresa Araneta, Rabat’s son Francisco and Loyzaga’s daughter Bing also came.

The ninth inductee was former world junior lightweight boxing champion Flash Elorde who reigned for over seven years. The ex-Bogo bootblack campaigned for 15 years up to 1971 and died in 1985 at the age of 49. Elorde fought all over the world – including the US, Ecuador, Venezuela, Japan, Thailand and Guam and never backed down from any opponent, facing Ismael Laguna of Panama, Carlos Ortiz of Puerto Rico, Teruo Kosaka of Japan, Suh Kang Il of Korea, Love Allotey of Ghana, Auburn Copeland of the US, Percy Hayles of Jamaica and Sergio Caprari of Italy, among others. He was represented by his widow Laura, son Johnny and daughter-in-law Liza.

The last inductee was Anthony Villanueva, now 65. He garnered the country’s first Olympic silver medal, losing a hairline 3-2 verdict to Russia’s Stanislav Stepashkin in the featherweight boxing finals at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He is recovering from a stroke in Cabuyao, Laguna, and his son Avery showed up in his behalf.

HALL OF FAME NOTES: The induction was held in an atmosphere of solemnity, camaraderie and unity. Former POC president Celso Dayrit of fencing led a group of other NSA presidents in attending the affair. Former PSC chairman Aparicio Mequi, CHED chairman Manny Angeles, Fr. Anthony Morillo of NCAA host San Sebastian College, former senators Robert Jaworski and Freddie Webb, Commodore Cornelio de la Cruz, PC superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay, police director Roberto Rosales, police chief superintendent Rommel Heredia, Olympic veterans Kurt Bachmann, Paeng Hechanova, Ramoncito Campos and Enrique Beech, bowler Bong Coo, Philippine Taekwondo Association vice president Hong Sung Chon, Cambodia embassy deputy chief Tith Sarunreth, Russian Embassy protocol assistant to the Ambassador Dmitry Larionov, Indonesian Embassy representative Rhilyn Colessus, Rep. Zenaida Angping and Smart Sports director Patrick Gregorio also came.