Why Manny couldn’t make it

Manny Pacquiao would’ve relished the opportunity to be the guest of honor and speaker at the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Awards Night in the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel last Saturday night but couldn’t show up because there were thousands waiting for him in Bohol that day.

He was invited by the PSA to reprise the role he played at the 2011 edition and the honor to do it again doesn’t come too often. Two years ago, Pacquiao “gate-crashed” the annual event as an “uninvited” guest and was welcomed warmly by the PSA. He posed for pictures and signed autographs without hesitation. That’s because he feels at home with the PSA family. After all, it was the PSA that elevated him to its Hall of Fame in 2009 and named him Athlete of the Decade in 2010. Let’s not forget Pacquiao was voted Athlete of the Year by the PSA five times.

The PSA is the country’s oldest and most prestigious media organization established in 1948. The men who built the PSA’s solid foundations included sportswriting legends Teddy Benigno, Tony Siddayao, Jimmy Lacsamana, Pep Scarella, Ricky Llanos and Eddie Lachica. Today, the organization remains on firm ground with the leadership of Lito Tacujan, Ding Marcelo, Teddyvic Melendres, Jimmy Cantor and current president Jun Lomibao.

I’ve had the honor and privilege of co-hosting the PSA Awards Night in three of its last four stagings and each occasion has been a wonderful experience. Last Saturday, I called it the Oscars of Philippine sports as the Centennial Hall was packed with the country’s outstanding athletes – past, present and future. Caloy Loyzaga

 came with wife Vicky and daughter Bing and graciously, shook hands with well-wishers even as a stroke has taken away his speech and mobility. He was the FIBA World Cup’s second leading scorer in 1954 when the Philippines took third place, the highest finish ever by an Asian country in the global tournament. King Caloy was an inspiring blast from the past.

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The present stars in the audience were too many to mention one by one. Gilas, the Athlete of the Year awardee, was represented by coach Chot Reyes, assistant coaches Joseph Uichico and Josh Reyes, players Gabe Norwood, Gary David and Jeff Chan and team manager Butch Antonio. The President’s Award was given to world 10-ball billiards queen and Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Rubilen Amit, World Cup of Pool titlists Lee Van Corteza and Dennis Orcollo and world poomsae titleholder Mikeala Calamba. In all, there were 123 awardees, including 17 in the major category.

The future heroes included the world’s youngest FIDE master Alekhine Nouri who’s only seven, 13-year-old jianshu specialist Vanessa Jo Chan, 11-year-old wushu champion Johnzenth Gajo and golfers Pauline Beatrize del Rosario and Kristoffer Arevalo who topped their 13 to 14 divisions at the Callaway Junior World Championships in San Diego last July – all of them recipients of the Tony Siddayao Award for star 15-and-under athletes.

The highlight of the night was Executive of the Year awardee Manny V. Pangilinan’s speech. The PLDT chairman joked that he finally received the recognition only after Ricky Vargas, his right-hand man, was cited. Previous awardees were Azkals team manager Dan Palami, Vargas as SBP vice chairman and ABAP president and PBA commissioner Chito Salud. MVP is SBP president and ABAP chairman.

MVP was recognized for his patriotic and selfless efforts in supporting Gilas’ march back to the global basketball stage. That also led to SBP’s recognition as the year’s most outstanding NSA. The SBP was honored for Gilas’ silver finish at the FIBA-Asia Championships, the Philippines’ victory at the 3x3 U-18 FIBA-Asia Championships, the Philippines’ second place wind-up at the U-16 FIBA-Asia Championships and Sinag’s golden romp at the Southeast Asian Games.

Accepting the award for SBP were MVP, Vargas, chairman Oscar Moreno and executive director Sonny Barrios. Also at the Awards Night were deputy executive director Bernie Atienza and treasurer Dr. Jay Adalem. Atienza said the SBP couldn’t have achieved what it did without support from administration and communications officer Love Viray, accounting and finance officer Emy Gonzales, executive secretary Glenda Castro, operations officer Joemar Benedicto, office staffers Rex Dacanay and Melissa Gonzalez, ex-FIBA commissioner Boy Cahanding and technical commission head Levy Valenzuela.

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“I’ve never worked with a more hard-working staff,” said Atienza. “We work six days a week and when there are tournaments going on locally, it’s a 24/7 duty for all. Even in tournaments abroad, we’re on 24/7 because of our monitoring responsibility.”

As for Pacquiao, I accidentally bumped into him on the same PAL flight to Cebu the Thursday before the Awards Night. He said he couldn’t make it to the PSA event because of his commitments that weekend. Pacquiao visited the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, speaking to close to 2,000 inmates and preaching the Word of God through Bible passages. He spoke about his reawakening and the dream of a voice calling out from a bright light asking why he had strayed while kneeling in a beautiful forest. Pacquiao said he woke up crying and his pillow was wet with tears. He admitted once being a “guest” at the Manila City Jail in his younger wayward days.

To welcome Pacquiao, the Cebu inmates performed dance routines and participated in boxing exhibitions. On Friday, he continued his religious crusade at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City. And on Saturday, Pacquiao flew to Bohol on a goodwill, relief and religious mission to visit earthquake victims.

Pacquiao said he knows how important the PSA Awards Night is and he’ll always be grateful to the PSA for the many honors he has received from the organization. But he asked for dispensation as he couldn’t let down thousands of less fortunate countrymen waiting for his arrival in Bohol. “Please extend my best to our friends in the PSA,” said Pacquiao. “I hope they understand why I won’t be able to make it this time.”