Philippines takes 16-gold haul in Asean Para Games

MANILA, Philippines - The 64-member Team Philippines collected 16 gold, 17 silver and 26 bronze medals and finished seventh overall in the eighth Asean Para Games that ended Thursday in various venues in Singapore.

The harvest will be aptly rewarded as the Philippine Sports Commission is preparing P4.4 million in total incentives as mandated by RA 10669 or the amended Sports Incentives Act.

The chessers shone brightest among the lot, capturing six golds, six silvers and two bronzes led by quadruple champ Menandro Junnie Redor.

Redor stamped his class in the men’s individual standard and rapid events of the B2/B3 class and bannered Phl to the team titles in the same events as well.

Sander de Erit Severino topped the men’s individual rapid chess in the PI category and annexed the team rapid plum to complete a golden double.

Tracksters accounted for five golds, three silvers and nine bronzes led by Jerrold Pete Mangliwan and Prudencia Panaligan with two mints apiece.

Mangliwan pulled off record-breaking triumphs in men’s 100m T52 (18.40) and 200m T52 (32.39) while Panaligan ruled the women’s 100m T53 (record 18.29) and women’s 200m T53/T54 (33.23) competitions.

Joel Balatucan delivered gold No. 5 in the tracks with his romp in men’s shot put F53/54/55 (7.51m).

Paralympic swimmer Ernie Gawilan snared the mints in the men’s 200m individual medley SM8 (2:47.64) and men’s 400m freestyle S8 (4:48.49) while Gary Begino topped the men’s 400m free S7 play (5:28.26) to lead a 3-2-1 performance in the pool.

Paralympians Josephine Medina and Adeline Ancheta played true to form with victories in table tennis and powerlifting, respectively. Medina reigned in the women’s singles Class 7-8 (3-1 victory over Indonesia’s Suwarti in the finals) while Ancheta topped the women’s over-86kg PI class (100kgs).

Thailand topped the medal table with 95-76-79 followed by Indonesia (81-74-63), Malaysia (52-58-37), Vietnam (48-58-50), and host Singapore (24-17-22). Myanmar had the same number of gold and silver as Phl (16 and 17) but got three more bronzes than the Filipinos to take sixth position in the 10-nation tourney.

Following the games, PSC chairman Richie Garcia said the agency is preparing the cash bonuses for  medalists, who are entitled to P150,000 per gold; a P75,000 per silver, and P30,000 per bronze.