Gathering of kindred spirits

CEBU – It was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with sportswriters in the Queen City of the South. And speaking before a big audience that included Cebu’s top sports achievers of 2013 was a huge bonus.

Over 10 years ago, I was the guest speaker at the annual Cebu Sports Awards. Last Wednesday, I was back in the same role and couldn’t help but notice the progress of the Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC). When I spoke the last time, it was in a restaurant. This time, the program was held in the middle of the multi-level Ayala Center so the public could join the celebration. The set-up was similar to how the PBA conducts the annual draft at the Robinson’s Place in Malate every year.

There are 31 members of the SAC, all influential and highly-skilled craftsmen. Several are good friends of long standing like SAC president Rico Navarro (also Sacred Heart School/Ateneo de Cebu athletic director), Salven Lagumbay, Dong Secuya, Gabby Malagar, John Pages and Nimrod Quinones. Rico is often tapped as ring announcer for major Cebu boxing cards while Lagumbay is an international boxing referee. Secuya is the philboxing.com founder and editor.

I nearly missed my 11 a.m. flight from Manila to Cebu because of the heavy traffic on the way to Terminal 2. I barely made the cut-off and would’ve probably been denied if not for the appeal of San Miguel Purefoods area sales manager Tey Lucas who was ahead of me at the check-in counter. On the same flight was San Miguel Brewery business affairs and communications unit manager Emilie Gatmaitan who flew in from Manila to oversee a relief/recovery project in disaster-struck San Remigio. Emilie also coordinated San Miguel’s sponsorship of the Cebu Sports Awards with Mandaue plant manager Ricky Tablante and Girlie Garces.

From the airport, Emile and I went directly to Café Laguna at the Ayala Center where Rico and John waited for lunch. I was particularly interested to converse with Rico because of his involvement in sanctioning erring individuals in a recent football match as vice president of the Cebu Football Association (CFA). A decision was recently announced to ban for a year two adult spectators and a 14-year-old player from Alcoy town for their participation in a melee that marred an under-18 match in the 16th Aboitiz Football Cup. The ban prohibits the guilty parties from coming within 100 meters of a CFA tournament.

  The match was between Sacred Heart School/Ateneo de Cebu and Alcoy Football Club. One of those sanctioned was photographed kicking an Alcoy player and also chased down his victim’s teammate. Another entered the pitch to strike the Alcoy keeper who headlocked an Ateneo player. Photographs showing the adults pouncing on the boys went viral. Rico said he’s hoping the involved parties settle their differences without pursuing cases in court. Aside from the one-year ban, CFA disqualified both teams from the tournament and suspended their coaches for six months. Rico said the CFA sanctions 90 percent of football matches in the province.

The 32nd edition of the Cebu Sports Awards was a resounding success. Rico had hosted the event for years as master of ceremonies until he became SAC president and John took over the task. This year’s honorees included world billiards queen Rubilen Amit as Athlete of the Year, Team Cebu City taekwondo head and Philippine Taekwondo Association Region 7 chairman Tony del Prado as Sportsman of the Year, taekwondo poomsae playing coach Glenn Lava as presidential awardee and Los Angeles-based cycling enthusiast Frank Gatdula as Orlacsan (in honor of the late Cebu sportswriter Orlando Sanchez) awardee. Lava claimed a gold and a bronze at the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Bali last year. Gatdula sponsors the so-called Tour de Frank in Cebu during his yearly visits.

There were 14 sports where the SAC recognized major awardees. For basketball, the major awardees were UP point guard Paul Desiderio who played for the Philippines in the FIBA-Asia U-16 tournament in Iran last year, former PBA cager Onie Padilla’s son Arnie who plays for the Philippines U-17 squad and the PBA Philippine Cup best player JuneMar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer. The boxing honorees were WBO lightflyweight champion Donnie Nietes, IBF lightflyweight titlist Johnriel Casimero and former WBO miniumumweight ruler Merlito Sabillo.

Several ALA fighters were cited in the program and they came with trainer Edmund Villamor. Nietes, Sabillo, Jimrex Jaca, Jason Pagara, Milan Melindo and Genesis Servania attended the affair. Sabillo had just arrived at the airport from Mexico via San Diego and Los Angeles. Last weekend, he lost his WBO 105-pound crown to Francisco Rodriguez, Jr. in Monterrey. Two institutions were recognized as major awardees – Don Bosco Technology Center and PAREF Springdale School for football and the Cebu Country Club for golf.

Special citations were handed out to athletes from 26 sports including basketball (Greg Slaughter and Southwestern University’s Mac-Mac Tallo), boxing, chess, cycling, dancesport, gymnastics, judo, mixed martial arts, motocross, rugby, swimming and tennis. Tallo, who led Southwestern to the PCCL Final Four, came with the Cobras assistant coach and Gilas head coach Chot Reyes’ brother Mike. Southwestern coach and provincial board member Yayoy Alcoseba couldn’t attend due to pressing commitments in government.

The program went like clockwork, a testament of the efficiency of the organizers. I had to leave for the airport at 5:30 p.m. to make the 7:25 p.m. flight and I left right on time. I spoke on stage for over an hour using a power-point program and enjoyed sharing insights on what I call the 9 Pillars of Sports Excellence and 6 Pillars of Journalistic Excellence. Additionally, I shared tips on how to write an impactful story through my interview experiences with Michael Jordan, Manny Pacquiao, Erik Spoelstra, Oscar Robertson, Freddie Roach and others.

There isn’t a trip I make to Cebu where I don’t bring back at least two boxes of marshmallow brownies from Homebakers on Juana Osmena Street. The brownies, also called Mud Bars, are to die for. I ordered three boxes which my good friend Andrew Teh of the Cebu-based travel agency Global Links was so kind as to ask his staff to deliver to the Ayala Center where I spoke. In the course of a conversation with Tey Lucas, I found out he’s a good friend of Homebakers owner Eugene Lim. In fact, right after we touched down from Manila, Tey visited Eugene at the Homebakers shop and told him about my craving for the Mud Bars. Eugene then sent over a box of his mini-brazo de Mercedes and a box of other pastries to the Ayala Center through Tey before I left for the airport.

That night, I went back to Manila overloaded with carry-on goodies. Paul Desiderio’s father Abner, who works for Philippine Airlines, assisted me in getting past security control at the airport. He knew I was in town for the Cebu Sports Awards. I had the three boxes of Mud Bars, two more boxes from Eugene, a box of chocolate-covered dried mangoes and three packs of dried mangoes as pasalubong from Tony Aldeguer and two boxes of boneless lechon which I also ordered through Andrew. I would’ve also brought back the beautiful lamp which I was given as a token for speaking but Emilie offered to take it to Manila as well as a limited edition San Miguel Beer in a gold can personalized with hand-written messages. More than anything, I brought back with me warm memories of another happy Cebu experience, thanks to the SAC and San Miguel Brewery.