Paying tribute to sports heroes

The recent death of the country’s first Olympic silver medalist Anthony Villanueva has brought attention to a movement recently launched to pay tribute to Filipino sports heroes. While Villanueva will not be around to receive the honor in a program called “Gabi Ng Pagpupugay” set on June 12 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in the Resorts World Manila, his memory lingers as a reminder to show appreciation to legends before it’s too late.

Broadcaster Chino Trinidad is organizing the tribute which kicks off with an exhibit of Filipino sports artefacts and memorabilia to be displayed in the Resorts World Manila lobby starting June 1. He formed a company called Taas Noo, Inc. with sports heroes Paeng Nepomuceno, Eugene Torre, Efren (Bata) Reyes, Bong Coo, Elma Muros and Alvin Patrimonio to provide continuity to the effort.

Trinidad said the tribute will focus on a century of Philippine sports milestones from 1913 to 2013. “We’re not duplicating the PSC’s Sports Hall of Fame,” he explained. “We’re not giving out cash or even trophies. We only want to show respect, love and admiration to those athletes who should be remembered for bringing honor and pride to our country. Unfortunately, today’s sports fans aren’t given the opportunity to even recall what heroes like Anthony Villanueva did. We want to bridge the gap and make our past heroes relevant in today’s world. Our goal is simply to honor those who shaped the history of Philippine sports.”

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Trinidad said 19 Filipino sports greats will be honored in the “Gabi Ng Pagpupugay.” They are the only Filipino to play for the Philippine and Spanish football national teams Paulino Alcantara, Asia’s first world boxing champion Pancho Villa, the first Filipino Olympic medalist Teofilo Yldefonso of swimming, the only Filipino medalist in the 1936 Berlin Olympics Miguel White of track, Felicisimo Ampon of tennis, “Bantam” Ben Arda of golf, Caloy Loyzaga of basketball, the longest reigning Filipino world boxing champion Gabriel (Flash) Elorde, Villanueva, Torre of chess, Nepomuceno of bowling, Lita de la Rosa of bowling, Coo of bowling, Reyes of billiards, Arianne Cerdena of bowling, 1996 Olympic silver medalist Mansueto (Onyok) Velasco of boxing, the only fighter ever to capture world titles in eight different divisions Manny Pacquiao, 1932 Olympic bronze medalist Simeon Toribio of high jump and the former world middleweight boxing champion Ceferino Garcia.

Trinidad said Loyzaga, now unable to speak because of a succession of strokes, will attend the tribute program. “Today’s generation of fans know who Robert Jaworski and Ramon Fernandez are but surely, no one comes close to King Caloy as far as basketball greatness is concerned,” continued Trinidad. “He led the Philippines to third place at the World Championships in 1954 and was named one of the world’s top 10 players. King Caloy also played in two Olympics.”

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Trinidad said he’s excited to put rare artefacts on display. “We’re borrowing memorabilia from the PSC Museum and putting them side by side with rarities we’ve managed to borrow from other sources,” he said. “We’ll put on exhibit Yldefonso’s bronze medal from the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, the jersey and medal of Pons Saldana from the 1954 World Basketball Championships in Rio de Janeiro, we’re borrowing Onyok’s 1996 Olympic silver medal and Lita de la Rosa’s 1978 World Cup of Bowling trophy. We’re also showing Vicente Avena’s bronze medal in volleyball from the 1919 Far Eastern Games and a certificate signed by President Quezon awarded to Avena for his participation at the Far Eastern Games in 1925. We’re borrowing Flash Elorde’s WBC championship belt from his wife Laura and Manny Pacquiao’s championship belt, too.”

Along the corridors of the Resorts World Manila lobby, Trinidad said he’ll show portraits of the Filipino sports heroes by Alfred Galvez, a half-scale wax sculpture of Loyzaga by Bon Mujeres and a 12x6 meter mural of the 19 legends. Additionally, there will be three 52-inch LG video monitors showing films of Philippine sports milestones like Toribio high-jumping at the Berlin Olympics, Elorde in action and Pancho Villa knocking out Jimmy Wilde for the world flyweight title at the Polo Grounds in New York in 1923.

“This project has been one year in the making,” said Trinidad. “Our message to our country is our DNA hasn’t changed over the last 100 years. This is a reminder that we can be great because we were once great. We want everyone today to relive the experience of our past heroes in sports through video, pictures and memorabilia, to feel the glory of the last 100 years.”