Resurgence of RP sports under Tita Cory?s watch
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 04 Aug 2010
Last Sunday, the nation commemorated the first death anniversary of the late President Cory Aquino, who succumbed to lung cancer August 1, 2009.
People from all walks of late paid tribute to Tita Cory, acknowledged worldwide as ?Mother of Democracy,? even as all sectors of the Filipino society remembered the legacies she left that affected their lives.
Surprisingly, however, sports, one sector that was the biggest recipient of those legacies, failed to come up with a single activity befitting the occasion. This despite having her younger brother, former Cong. Jose ?Peping? Cojuangco as president of the Philippine Olympic Committee and his ally, Richie Garcia, designate head of the Philippine sports Commission by her son, President Noynoy, only recently.
Forgotten was the fact that it was Tita Cory who signed Republic Act 6847, the law that created the Philippine Sports Commission and led to the resurgence of Philippine sports. It was also under Tita Cory?s watch when the Philippines ended up second overall in the 1991 Southeast Asian Games held in the country where the Filipino contingent fell shy of the general championship by a mere gold.
The act creating the PSC, defining its powers, functions and responsibilities and appropriating funds was hailed as the best thing ever that happened to the almost dying state of RP sports.
The effect of the landmark legislation was was felt two years after its signing during the hosting of the 16th SEA Games when the Filipino athletes stood tall against the powerhouse contingents in the region that, until only three years prior considered them as their favorite whipping boys.
In that year, the Filipino athlete, led by swimmer Eric Buhain and sprinter Lydia de Vega, came out with their most stirring performances in the biennial Games collecting? 91 gold medals, one shy of the 92 eventual overall champion Indonesia.
That was a big jump from a mere 26-gold harvest the 1989 delegation fashioned out in finishing a low sixth place in the standing, the country?s poorest since it was admitted to the SEA Games fold in 1977.
The resurgence that happened to RP sports actually started barely six months following the world acclaimed EDSA Revolution that catapulted the wife of the slain former Sen. Ninoy Aquino to the Presidency.
It was in September of 1986 when members of tiny Philippine delegation marched during the Olympic-style opening ceremony signaling the start of the 10th Asian Games at the huge Olympic Stadium in South Korea?s premier city of Seoul.
?Standing ovation greeted the Filipino athletes and their officials as they emerged into the track and field oval, their hands waving to the appreciative crowd of over 100,000? including competitors from 25 nations, who only February of that year witnessed how the Filipino nation, led by the plain housewife, overthrew the dictator and installed here their new leader.
?The thunderous applause, accorded only to the RP contingent and complete with colorful fireworks display that lighted the skies, lasted until the entire national contingent took its place at the center of the stadium along with other participating nations.
?It was the first athletic competition of that magnitude the new Philippines took part in And the athletes responded by bringing home four gold medals, two of them scooped up by bowler Olivia ?Bong? Coo.
Ms. Coo, a World Cup and FIQ champion, ruled the the women?s all event and anchored RP women?s team of five to triumph. De Vega conquered anew her vials, including arch-enemy P.T. Usha of India in becoming the first woman sprinter to win the 100 meters back-to-back.?
Youthful Ramon Brobio, then the world junior titleholder, rounded out the Philippines? four-gold medal haul by topping the men?s golf, besting the best the region can offer, most of whom were old enough to be his father
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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