New PSC Sports Museum celebrates Philippine Sporting Greats
Tucked away in the second floor of the nondescript PNB building beside Rizal Memorial Football Stadium lies a treasure trove of Philippine sports memorabilia.
The PSC Sports Museum is now open, and although it's small, it nonetheless offers us a fascinating peek into the high points of Pinoy sports over the decades.
Scores of Filipino sporting greats have chipped in their medals, photos, uniforms, and more to create this tribute of sporting excellence.
At the formal opening PSC chairman Richie Garcia as well as many of the athletes celebrated by the exhibit were on hand.
In the front of the exhibit is the Wall of Fame, which is really the first batch of the PSC Hall Of Fame from 2010. There hang photos of boxer Francisco Guilledo (Pancho Villa), swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso, high jumper Simeon Toribio, boxer Jose Villanueva, hurdler Miguel White, boxer Ceferino Garcia, Basketball legend Carlos Loyzaga, the 1954 Philippine Basketball team to the 1954 worlds, boxer Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, and boxer Anthony Villanueva.
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Richie Garcia says that a new round of voting with the media is in order to add to this list.
I move on to the exhibit proper, and I take a journey in time.
There are three certificates given by the Guinness Book of World Records to Paeng Nepomuceno along with some medals. Glossy photos of Efren Reyes, Django Bustamante hang opposite them.
Golfer Frankie Minoza, a Bukidnon kid who parlayed his talent into a lucrative Golf career, also has a portrait along with female greats Dorothy Delasin and Jennifer Rosales.
Another great Pinoy golfer also has a picture, it's “Bantam” Ben Arda, who played in the Masters and British Open. As a young child living in Singapore I have a vivid memory of standing behind the 18th hole of the Bukit course of the Singapore Island Country Club during the Singapore Open in the 80s and seeing Arda, a tiny man who was then past his prime, walking up to the green to finish his round.
There's another picture of that 1954 hoops team that won bronze in the world championship in Brazil. It is hard to fathom now that the Philippines was once the third-best Basketball nation in the world. Also displayed is a crusty and worn leather ball that looks nothing like today's spheroids.
Another great Pinoy baller of yesteryear, Eddie Pacheco, is also remembered. A plaque of appreciation given to him in 1997 is there. Pacheco was my father's contemporary in UST and he speaks about him fondly.
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I bump into Onyok Velasco, who won a silver medal in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. He still runs a boxing gym and does some coaching. Velasco's close loss to Bujilov of Bulgaria gave birth to one of Pinoy sports commentary's great calls, Ron De Los Reyes' unforgettable “there is a robbery in Atlanta!”
Other Filipino sporting greats that I had never heard of also get recognition. Teofilo Yldefonso won bronze not once but twice in the Olympics, for the 200m breaststroke in 1928 and 1932.
Miguel White picked up a bronze as well in the 1936 Berlin Olympics for the 400m hurdles.
There's a Billiards section too where the likes of Warren Kiamco, Antonio Lining, Jeff De Luna, and Bingkay Amit are honored alongside Reyes and Bustamante.
Little-known sports have their place in the museum as well. Weightlifter Jaime Sebastian is lionized with a great black and white photo. Sebastian finished his career with no less than 22 SEA Games gold medals from eight SEA games.
There's even a display for the Philippine Dragon Boat team and a section on differently-abled athletes.
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The museum is more than just a collection of photos. There are uniforms, jackets, newspaper clippings, pool cues, medals, and even a weathered old bag from the 1952 Olympics. There's also a torch from the Beijing Olympic Games too.
Nancy Gonzales, the administration officer of the Philippine Sports Commission, says the museum is curated with the help of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts.
Garcia says they are always open to accepting more artifacts. I tell him about one of the great unsung heroes of Pinoy Sports, Freddie Deen III. Deen, a Cebuano, is one of the greatest darters in the history of the Philippine who campaigned with great success in the UK. I used to see him practice in the 90s in Amber Golden restaurant with Boy Parfan. He has since passed away, a victim of lung cancer.
But while the museum glorifies the Philippines' glittering sporting past, it also somewhat serves as an indictment of the present. Since Velasco, the country hasn't had a taste of any Olympic medal. The Asian Games delegations hardly do better, while even in the SEA Games, the Philippines gets a fraction of the medals it used to earn.
I find it amazing that the Philippines used to garner Olympic medals in Track and Field on a regular basis. These days, only Boxing and maybe Taekwondo offer realistic medal hopes.
Will our great sportsmen and sportswomen just be those immortalized in sepia? Or can they be living, breathing examples of Filipino excellence for today and tomorrow?
But no doubt, the PSC Sports Museum will offer inspiration for every Pinoy athlete. It's open every day from 8am to 5pm, and admisssion is free.
Follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333.
