Pacquiao PSA Awards guest speaker

MANILA, Philippines - Boxing great Manny Pacquiao serves as the special guest of honor and speaker when the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) honors the best and brightest Filipino athletes in the year about to end during its Annual Awards Night set Jan. 25, 2014.

The presence of the 35-year-old eight-time world champion and congressman from the province of Sarangani is expected to lend prestige to the formal affair whose highlight is the presentation of the coveted Athlete of the Year award.

This marks the second time Pacquiao will be the guest of honor and speaker of the annual event, having done the same thing during the 2011 awards night.

But the opportunity to once again address the local sports community comes at a time when Pacquiao had just won a second term in Congress and is just two months removed from a successful ring comeback that saw him beat American Brandon Rios in a lopsided welterweight match over 12 rounds at the Cotai Arena in Macau.

The ring icon was elevated to the PSA Hall of Fame in 2009 after having named Athlete of the Year five times in between 2002 to 2008.

The same group whose members are sportswriters and editors from the national dailies and tabloids, also named Pacquiao its Athlete of the Decade in 2010.

The future Hall of Famer is also expected to personally hand out the highest honor given by the PSA in partnership with Smart Sports, Milo, Philippine Sports Commission, Air21, Globalport, Philippine Basketball Association, Accel, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, and Rain or Shine.

Fiba-World Cup-bound Gilas Pilipinas basketball team and world pool champions Rubilen Amit, Dennis Orcollo, and Lee Van Corteza are the leading candidates for the Athlete of the Year award.

The national cage team bucked the odds to finish behind champion Iran in the Fiba-Asia Men’s Championship, netting the country a first stint in the Fiba World Cup in Spain after 35 years.

Amit, Orcollo and Corteza, meanwhile, proved once more that the best pool players are still found in this side of the world.

The 4-foot-11 Amit won a second World Women’s 10-Ball title after beating former champion Kelly Fisher of Great Britain in the final.

The pair of Orcollo and Corteza for their part, crowned themselves World Cup of Pool champions following their victory over the Netherlands duo of Nick Van Den Berg and Niels Feijen during the championship game.

Other than the Athlete of the Year, other awards to be given by the PSA include Executive of the Year, Presidential Achievement, Lifetime Achievement, NSA of the Year and Milo Junior Athlete.

There will also be major awardees, citations, posthumous, and the Tony Siddayao award for deserving young athletes.