From bullied to box office blockbuster

Monsour del Rosario has had to fight for everything he has. He’ll be back in the spotlight soon enough, on a new action series airing on a major network. So far, he has had three prosperous lives: as an athlete, actor and public servant. He has earned all the success and accolades the hard way, through his unequalled grit and determination. But it was never easy. When Monsour was very young, his family moved to Bacolod, and he was enrolled in St. John’s Institute, a Chinese school, where he felt left out. He spoke neither Ilonggo nor any Chinese dialects (he spoke only English and Spanish), and was thus ostracized. A scrawny, skinny kid, he was routinely roughed up by bullies, though he always fought back, constantly losing.

“During flag ceremony, we were arranged smallest to biggest, so I was always one of those in front,” recalls the taekwondo Olympian. “They would take my lunch. When we played marbles, they would mess with us. I fought back, but always got beaten. Until I learned Ilonggo, they would not leave me alone.”

He eventually learned the dialect, but sought a way to defend himself. Since he did not speak any Chinese, he could not enroll in his friends’ martial arts schools. Then came Bruce Lee, who revolutionized martial arts in cinema; and Muhammad Ali, who had unparalleled flair in the boxing ring. Monsour was mesmerized. First, he found karate. When his family moved back to Manila, he discovered taekwondo with its myriad kicks and high-flying style. He was hooked. From being varsity team captain at De La Salle University, Monsour inevitably joined the Philippine team. In the late 1980’s he captained the national squad and, along with his dear friend Stephen Fernandez, became the first Filipinos to win gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games in their sport. They also became the first Filipino Olympians in taekwondo, causing even the Koreans themselves to take pause.

Monsour was prevailed upon to retire in his mid-20s, after the 1988 Olympics and 1989 SEA Games. His Korean masters at the World Taekwondo Federation, Asian Taekwondo Union and Philippine Taekwondo Association had another mission for him: to become the face of the sport in the Philippines, and beyond, as Bruce Lee did for jeet kune do and kung fu.

“I never planned to be an actor. I was supposed to leave for the States and make my life there,” the action star confesses. “They said, we want your name synonymous with taekwondo.”

Thanks to his tirelessness in learning how movie studios work (and improving on his Tagalog), Monsour inevitably ruled the box office. As a result, taekwondo participation in the country exploded, from roughly half a million students to over 10 million at its peak. Mission accomplished. His next suitor was even more unfamiliar: politics. Monsour del Rosario’s struggles and success will be featured on “Masters of the Game,” Sunday night at 8 p.m. on PTV, hosted by this writer.