LOOKING BACK: Pres. Cory and the PSC (Conclusion)
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 25 Jan 2011
The creation of the Philippine Sports Commission was one of the biggest legacies President Cory Aquino left behind was proven five years after the late Chief Executive signed Rep. Act 6487 into law.
It was in year 1991 during the country?s hosting of the 16th Southeast Asian Games that the Filipino athletes finally woke up from its long years of being their Asian neighbors? favorite whipping boy as they ended up a long shot second overall in that edition of the biennial conclave dubbed the ?Manila Miracle of ?91.?
The Games was called such because of the host athletes? 91 gold medal harvest that was a mere gold of the eventual champion Indonesia?s 92.
That was a big jump from the mere 26-gold haul their predecessors brought home two years prior in 1989 in Kuala Lumpur where the Philippines dropped to a dismal fifth place, its worst since joining the then 10-nation Games in 1977.
Thanks to swimmer Eric Buhain, who became the first athlete to earn the distinction as the ?outstanding male athlete? back-to-back following a personal six-gold medal production, and sprinter Lydia de Vega-Mercado, who reaffirmed her supremacy over her rivals in the centerpiece 100 meters.
And Tita Cory, who came into power following the unprecedented peaceful revolution of 1986, was at the forefront of the campaign, first to save the Games from cancellation to the closing ceremony where both the winners and non-winners alike came out the victors in terms of the experience and goodwill.
That the Games was pushed through was a ?miracle? in itself. The economic downtrend brought about by several natural and manmade calamities that struck the entire archipelago nearly scrapped the Games, but the President?s display of national courage prevented the Games cancellation and its transfer to other country of means.
A killer quake hit many parts of Luzon, Mt. Pinatubo erupted a few months before the Games and flashfloods in Leyte killed thousands as competitions neared leading the not so ?bright boys? of Tita Cory?s administration to suggest moving the Games elsewhere.
The Games, indeed, looked doomed as infrastructure requirements remained unfinished weeks before the Games, while competition equipment have yet to arrive.
But in the end, like when the country first hosted the biennial meet 10 years before, the Filipinos met the deadline in scrambling fashion and everything went well days before the opening ceremonies.
The ?miracle? continued in the 11-day that followed as the Filipino athletes, who nary enjoyed home court advantage due to the late completion of venues and late arrival of training equipment, responded to the call, and, inspired no end by Tita Cory?s resiliency herself, put on their strongest performance ever since joining the conclave in 1977.
The Filipinos, clad in their sleek red, white and blue uniforms, were everywhere, striking gold medals on all fronts, winning in the events they are expected to and besting their rivals in their own turfs.
From the Rizal Memorial swimming pool where Buhain, Akiko Thompson and their teammates reigned supreme, to the track and field oval where De Vega-Mercado was to reclaim her crown as the region?s ?fastest woman,? and other fields where the boxers, wushu artists, the shooters, the taekwondo jins, the cyclists, the cagers and the baseball and softball players, etc. were at their best.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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