The cause of this traffic was about the post I made about Manny Pacquiao. Some people seem to have not gone past the title and started commenting without much care on what the blog was all about. It was written to incite people to think - why was Manny getting all the brouhaha while the other athletes are not? Why do people think that he is the only one we've got?
Because of the comments posted there (and the FACT that Manny Pacquiao IS NOT the only one who brought glory to the Philippines), I have decided to come up with a list of Filipino atheletes who have made it in the international arena:
(NOTE: Just because someone competes in Japan only does not mean that he competed with asians only)
1. Paeng Nepomuceno - the all-time greatest international bowler with six world championships to his credit. Owns the distinction of being "Greatest Filipino Athlete of All Time", "Athlete of the Century", and "International Bowling Athlete of the Millennium." (http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/basketball.php)
2. Bong Coo - "Asia's Bowling Queen", most awarded female Filipino athlete in history, having won 107 national and international titles including two world titles, one World Cup and five Asiad gold medals. She set three world records in consecutive FIQ World Championships in 1979 and 1983 and one world record in 1979 World Cup. (http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/basketball.php)
3. Efren "Bata" Reyes - four time 8-ball World Champion, won two gold medals in the 20th Southeast Asia Games, 1999 Athlete of the Year. In its December 21, 2001 issue, the prestigious Time Magazine has included Reyes in its roster world's best in sports and described him as the Philippines' "sole bona fide international sports superstar". (http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/basketball.php)
4. Django Bustamante - considered the world's number one billiard player because of the string of victories he won in the United States, Europe, Japan and the Philippines. The US magazine "Billiards Digest" also named him as the Player of the Year for 1998. Django has bagged the World Pool Masters Championship twice (1998 and 2001). Other international tournaments he has won over the years include the Camel Pro Billiards Series, ESPN Champion of Champions, Japan Open 9-ball event, Peninsula 9-Ball Open, Riviera Hotel Pro- 8-Ball Open Championship in Las Vegas, All-Japan Championship, and IBC 9-Ball. Despite the death of her young daughter, Bustamante placed second behind Earl Strickland of the United States in the World 9-Ball Championship held in Cardiff, Wales in July 2002. In October of the same year, Django together with Antonio "Nikoy" Lining won a gold medal in the 9-ball doubles event of the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. (http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/basketball.php)
5. Onyok Velasco - nearly clinched the country's first Olympic gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics when he slugged it out with Bulgarian Daniel Bojilov in the light-flyweight finals. The controversial bout led to Velasco bringing home the silver medal. Before this, Velasco was one of the three Filipino boxers who clinched gold medals in the 1994 Asian Games held in Hiroshima, Japan. (http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/basketball.php) Onyok lost clearly not out of lack of passion
6. Malcolm Tuñacao - the only reigning Filipino world boxing champion in the year 2000. At 21 years old, Tuñacao grabbed the World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight crown from a Thai boxer in Bangkok on May 21, 2000 and was able to defend it for the rest of the year. (http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/basketball.php)
7. Melvin Magramo - On February 14, 1998, Melvin Magramo defeated a Thai champion to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight crown in front of 10,000 Filipino fans in Las Pinas City. (http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/basketball.php)
8. Joma Gamboa - On December 4, 1999, Joma Gamboa knocked out a Japanese fighter in Nagoya, Japan to become the World Boxing Association (WBA) minimum weight (105 pounds) champion. He defeated a Venezuelan boxer in August 2000 but lost the title to another Japanese opponent in December of that year. (http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/basketball.php)
9. Eric Chavez - crowned the International Boxing Federation (IBF) mini flyweight champion of the world, September 1989. (http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/basketball.php)
10. Frankie Miñoza - is a Filipino golfer and perhaps the Philippines' best golfer in recent years. At one point in his professional career, he managed to reach number 52 in the world rankings of golf (http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Frankie_Mi%C3%B1oza)
Just as these athletes have won and lost and replaced by another one, so will Manny Pacquiao be. He is NOT the only one we've got. When the time comes for him to retire, will the Philippines suffer? No, because someone better would come our way.
Our Filipino athletes never lose because of lack of passion. They would not even be able to compete in the Olympics if they lack the passion. One could say that they were overwhelmed by the feeling of competing in the national arena but they have been doing this (competing worldwide) for some time that I don't think they would still feel overwhelmed. (see http://asianjournal.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/galing-pinoys-filipino-athletes-going-for-gold-in-olympics/)
This is also something worth reading and might just reflect why sometimes some athletes get disheartened: http://www.filipinasoul.com/should-manny-pacquiao-bear-the-philippine-flag-at-the-olympics/.
...and this is where the lack of funding and foretought comes in: http://www.philippinerevolution.net/cgi-bin/ab/text.pl?issue=20080907;lang=eng;article=16
and
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage...StoryId=129177
and also
http://ibrainyou.i.ph/blogs/ibrainyou/?p=48
....and to those who feel that our athletes lack the passion, read this first: http://www.equestrian.com.my/news/2000/12/26/138,013d,66ec4f.html
and
http://www.microsoft.com/philippines/olympinoy/
....and there's a whole lot more if you would ask Mr. Google.
