Philippine Sports All-Stars

55. SALOMA BROTHERS The Slugging Brothers of the Boxing Ring

On August 9, 1970, three boxers debuted together at the Araneta Coliseum and created a buzz with their awesome performances in the ring. But more amazing was the fact that the three were real-life brothers: Eduardo (Eddie), Jose Maria (Joe), Ricardo (Colly) Zanadrin Coloma, collectively known as the Saloma Brothers.

The Saloma Brothers came from a large family of 10 children from Iloilo City. Bantamweight Eddie, the eldest of 7 brothers explained the reason for their shared fraternal interest in pugilism: “Boxing is our first love,” he says, “It’s in the family’s blood. I have an uncle who is in the US Navy who won trophies as an amateur in the United States. If my younger brothers who are still in their knee pants grow up, they too, will become boxers.”

24 years old in 1970, he remembers being only 16 when he started boxing professionally in Iloilo, Davao, and Cotabato. He never stopped schooling even while he boxed, and became a bookkeeper in Iloilo after finishing his Commerce degree. A southpaw, he has already fought 30 times and lost twice and drew one. He won most of his fights by T.K.O. and his last 3 fights in Manila (before he fought in the recent bout) were won by T.K.O.

However, in his Araneta Coliseum outing against the sly Tom Rico, another toprated bantamweight contender, lost in a questionable decision that was roundly booed by the crowd. But Eddie took it all in stride simply saying that boxing should not be fought the way Tom Rico did, in which he kept shoving Eddie with against the ropes, putting him (Eddie) at a disadvantage. One aficionado even remarked that the next time Eddie fights Tom Rico he would “win without a fuss.”

Younger brother, Joe, 20, an Electrical Engineering student at the Western Visayas College of Science and Technology and University of San Agustin, was a featherweight and was known for his powerful “atomic punch,” which gave him a record of 28 wins, 1 loss, at his peak.

Hoping to make a name in bigtime boxing, he was matched against Fil del Mundo, a rated featherweight from Laguna, and a favorite to win the bout. True enough, he dealt Joe telling blows that caused his brow to bleed profusely. The two exchanged blows amid the pandemonium in the stadium, each boxer neither giving nor asking for any quarter. Then it happened. Barely 2 minutes before the round ended, Fil del Mundo, for all his ruggedness and ring know-how, hit the deck in the twinkling of an eye, caused by flashy Joe’s killer “atomic punch,”

In his Araneta Coliseum duel with the more experienced Arturo Eracho, Joe sustained another injury that threatened his bid. But Joe came back from the 5^th round to the last to beat Eracho, dealing him with series of “very clean punches”, as described by Manila Times day editor, O.O. Sta. Romana. The more gleaming and potent ”clean punches” that the newsman spoke of turned the face of Eracho into a bloody mess, and Joe won the bloody fight by unanimous decision.

Meanwhile, Colly (Ricardo) is a high school graduate and has had 22 fights in his credit prior to his last one at the Araneta Coliseum in which he knocked out Jun Martin in a dramatic fashion on the fourth round. He never lost in any fight and last February won the amateur flyweight championship of the Philippines “Class C”. He turned pro at the age of 16. Ambition: to be a world champ and a lawyer.

The young boxers are managed by Mamerto Besa, businessman and sports promoter, whose craving desire is to produce a world champion from among his wards “before I retire.” Some of his successful boxers which he developed were Bert Somodio, former lightweight king of the Philippines, Randolf Masala and Tiny Palacio,

Besa says he has every reason to look forward to the day when the Saloma brothers would grab a world title. “First,” he says, “they are dedicated boxers—they take interest in their profession with whole heart; second, they are well-discipline for they behave properly and don’t indulge in any vices; and third, they are efficiently trained and managed. I, myself devote my full attention to their welfare…”

Such a set of high standards that characterize the pugilistic ventures of the Saloma Brothers would therefore make one expect that their best is yet to come. Through the 70s, the Salomas were names to be reckoned with, fighting in Guam, Korea, and the U.S. Joe had his last bout in 1973, while Eddie and Colly continued their international quests until 1977.

(This article was condensed from P.A. Zapanta’s “Up and Coming: Slugging Salomas”, published in The Sunday Times Magazine, Pictures by Dominador Suba. 11 October 1970, p. 35-37.

WHERE ARE THE SALOMA BROTHERS NOW?

A surprise e-mail to this writer was received from Joe Saloma in 18 May 2017 who managed to read a short article I have written about the slugging brothers for the popular website, FilipiKnow, included in my list of “Sports Legends Who Proved Filipinos Are Kickass Athletes.”

In it, he wrote: “It's an honor to be part of the FilipiKnow Greatest Filipino Athletes. It's been over four decades when we were in the peak of our boxing career. Thank you for believing in us. God is so good for giving us a wonderful life after ending our boxing career in the Philippines. Because of our hard work and determination, we were blessed with good life, family, and successful careers.”

Joe provided updates about himself and his acclaimed brothers, Eddie and Colly who are now U.S.-based. while he lives in Guam.

Joe is currently a resident of Agana, Guam. He retired from the U.S. military with over 22 years of active service and presently working with the Guam Department of Corrections.

Eddie studied at NW Institute of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine. He is now a Licensed Acupuncturist and Physical Therapist at the Oriental Acupuncture & Therapy Clinic, Inc., practicing in El Paso, Texas,

Colly is a resident of Virginia and also retired from the U.S. military with over 20 years of active service.

CREDITS:

MANY THANKS to Mr. Joe Saloma for the e-mail and the updated info about him and his brothers.

Photos by Mr. Domonador Suba, STM

FB pages of Jose Marie Saloma, Eduardo Saloma and Colly Saloma.

54. Olympic Weightlifter PEDRO LANDERO, Asia's Senior Strongman (1950-1956)

At the Weightlifting finals in the bantamweight division at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, a stocky Filipino—balding, short in stature, almost 39 years old, considered rather advanced in age for the sports—stunned the audience when he placed 6^th overall after all his lifts were totaled. PEDRO LANDERO, born on 19 Oct. 1913, was the oldest among the competitors who placed in the Top 12, most of whom were just in their 20s and early 30s. So to barge into the Top 6 was no mean feat, but a small victory in itself, for in so doing, he also set a new bantamweight record lift that would endure for years.

There is scant information about Landero’s beginnings but we do know he was trained under Prof. Candido Bartolome, considered the father of Physical Education of the Philippines. The American-schooled professor established the Department of Physical Education at the University of the Philippines and acted as head of the country’s delegation to the Olympics. He taught Landero and classmates Reynaldo Perez, Ruperto Villamor, Jose Chen and Esmeraldo Eco how to do gymnastic stunts for events and socials. They once entertained 700 guests at a rooftop garden party hosted by the U.P. President Bienvenido Gonzales on 24 June 1939, which received much praises.

Weightlifting was not Landero’s first sport---it was wrestling. He joined the Ben Gallegos Club (BGC), which was a gym club that trained its members and fielded them to various competitions—from weightlifting, physical culture contests, to wrestling. He participated in wrestling tournaments and began winning most matches.

At the 1948 National Wrestling Championship, he represented his club and won the Bantamweight division title, by decisioning AFPs’ Lt. J. Carreon after 15 minutes of strenuous wrestling. The next year, at the 1949 Wrestling Championship, he would retain that title by default—when his opponent did not show up. That’s when he realized perhaps, that wrestling was a sport that held little to Filipinos. Fewer contestants signed up for the tournament this year and that the same old names—Landero, Luna, Bernabe and Florendo—keep dominating the events, due to the absence of competition.

In 1950, Landero made a major career shift and decided to join the 1950 National Weightlifting Championships—he had been lifting heavy weights at Javier Brothers Gym for some time now, as part of his wrestling training, so it wouldn’t hurt if he tried another sport that called for a show of lifting strength. On April 16, he joined 32 lifters from schools and clubs at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum to test how far he could go in this new endeavor.

With a body weight of 136 pounds, he qualified for the Lightweight Division, ten went on to surprise himself with a 3^rd place finish, lifting a combined total (press, snatch, jerk) of 600 lbs. The unattached lifter, Luis Dumag won the Gold with his 625 lbs. effort, followed by Gervacio Canlas of BGC with a 620 lbs. lift.

Thus began an unexpected journey to the sport of weightlifting. He made so muchprogress that in a year, he was handpicked, along with Rodrigo del Rosario, to compete in the inaugural multi-sports continental games--the 1^st Asian Games in New Delhi, India. His lucky streak continued as he bagged his first international weightlifting medal—a Bronze—in the bantamweight class (56 kg.) . Gold and Silver went to Mahmoud Namjoo and Ali Mirzaei, both Iranians, whom he would meet again in the premiere sporting event of all—the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

In Finland, Landero had to yield the spotlight to the biggest star of the Philippine weightlifting stage, Rodrigo del Rosario, who held multiple current national records. There, at the Messuhalli Exhibition Hall, del Rosario shone his brightest, placing fourth in the featherweight class, his best Olympic finish, setting a world record in the military press portion, in the process.

Lost in the hoopla of del Rosario’s triumph was the remarkable 6^th place finish of 39 year-old bantamweight Landero in a field of 19 starters, one of only 2 senior lifters who completed their lifts (2 lifters from Japan and Romania dropped out). The other was Germany’s Josef Schuster, age 46, but he ended a distant 14^th. Gold went to Russian Ivan Udodov (age 28), while Iran’s Namjoo (age 34) and Mirzaei (age 23) claimed Silver and Bronze.

Though Del Rosario got the lion’s share of sports fans’ attention, Landero’s top 6 finish was, to him, a cherished one. He vowed to train harder, as has already set his sight on the next Olympics, in Melbourne. The 2^nd Asian Games hosted by Manila in 1954 was another chance to chase weightlifting honors, but it was Rodolfo Caparas who battled it out at the bantamweight finals and won a prized Silver. Landero opted to wait for the 1955 National Weightlifting Championships where he moved up to the featherweight class—and clinched the title, along with lightweight Kuan Sun, middleweight Higinio Villar, and middle-heavyweight Manuel Tan.

That win became Landero’s passport to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the first to be held outside Europe. It is also known for the multi-nation boycotts that marred the Games. But yesteryear’s sports fans remember it for early exit of the now 43 year old Landero who was expected to do well. He opted to start his Press lift at 95 kgs. , but failed not once, but thrice. Thus, Landero could no longer proceed and bowed out of contention. He was declared retired. From 6^th place in Helsinki, he finished last in 16^th place. American Charles Vinci topped the bantamweight division that year. Landero’s ignominous defeat led to his decision to retire permanently from weightlifting.

After the Olympics, not much was heard about his life, his family, and even his eventual passing. Landero seemed to have gone from a place of renown to complete obscurity. But certainly, what will not pass into oblivion is Pedro Landero’s weightlifting legacy, achieved in his maturity and reaching its peak in his seniority, proving to all that in the pursuit of excellence, age is no barrier.

SOURCES:

“U. P. President and Mrs. Gonzalez To Entertain for Faculty “, The Tribune, 22 Jun. 1939, p. 5

“1948 Wrestling Championship”, The Filipino Athlete,, May 1948, p. 11

“1949 Wrestling Championship”, The Filipino Athlete, June 1949, p. 16

“Winners of the 1955 National Weightlifting Championship”, PROGRESS 1955

1951 Asian Games, Wikipedia

1952 Helsinki Oympic Games, Wikipedia

1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, Wikipedia

Photo: Olympedia, Pedro Landero, https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/56489

Udodov, Namjoo,

53. Luger RAYMOND L. OCAMPO JR. and His Long Journey to the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics

When a topnotch Fil-American athlete and lawyer was asked in one job interview which he would prioritize—to handle a major corporate client or to compete in the Olympics, he chose the latter—and got hired anyway. Such is the commitment of RAYMOND L OCAMPO Jr. to his chosen discipline—luge—a winter sport that is hardly familiar in the U.S., much less in the Philippines where it is virtually unkniwn. But Ocampo did not just want to join the Winter Olympics; he wanted to compete for the Philippines.

Sixteen years have elapsed since the Philippines was represented in a Winter Olympics; the first time was in the 1972 Sapporo games when cousins Ben Nanasca and Juan Cipriano competed in alpine skiing. The two lads were adopted and lived in Andorra, and took to skiing in the Pyrenees. They became so proficient that the Swiss government recruited them for an alpine skiing group, which paved the way for their Olympic stint under the Philippine flag.

Ocampo’s journey was unlike our pioneer Olympians who had a large support group in New Zealand and the Philippines. Born in Lubao, Pampanga on 10 Feb. 1953, he and his family migrated to Canada when he was 11. The young Ocampo channeled his energies into sports of all kinds—as a high-schooler, he became a member of his school’s basketball team that won the state championship. Even as a political science student at UCLA and later, as a law student, he was running marathons in between poring over legal tomes.

After passing the bar, Ocampo went into private practice and continued with his love of sports. In 1986, the year he got employed by Oracle Corp., he became fascinated with luge—a fast race on artificial ice tracks using racing sleds that could be maneuvered to reach over 140 kilometer per hour.

What was amazing was that Ocampo learned the sports from scratch. He would watch old video tapes of past winter Olympics editions, but when he reviewed the Sarajevo Olympics of 1984, he was surprised to learn that tropical Puerto Rico was represented by a skier named George Tucker. He seriously began entertaining the thought of representing the country of his birth.

First, Ocampo began investing in the sport, spending as much as $20,000 alone for trips and equipment. He started intensive dry-land training on a sled with wheels and joining races. His first big one was at the Empire State Games at Lake Placid in 1986, finishing a creditable 7^th in his over-30 age group. One of those he defeated was Puerto Rican George Tucker! The experience buoyed his confidence and thus began his personal mission to ski for the Philippines.

But first, he needed the permission of the Philippine Olympic Committee in Manila via the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco. It took awhile to convince sports officials that his application was valid: the International Olympic Committee allows an athlete to represent the country of his birth so long as he has not competed in the same sport for another country. Besides, as a dual Filipino-American citizen, he was eligible to don the Philippine tri-color.

The national committee however, required him to hold a Philippine passport first—and thus began a series of frustrating passport issues that imperiled his Olympic dream. ''Luging is hard enough,'' he realized, but ''the paper trail was the hardest part.'' A personnel from the consulate volunteered to take his case, and his cache of supporting documents to Manila to discuss his request with the Olympic committee.

But the official’s timing was bad; Corazon Aquino had just ousted Marcos, and a new government was being put in place. It did not help that the official had strong ties with the Marcos administration, so upon landing in Manila, he was withheld, and his papers were confiscated, including Ocampo’s pertinent documents. The disappointed Olympic hopeful had to start all over.

Ocampo personally sent a letter to Vice President Salvador H. Laurel. He sent another letter to Sec. Gen. Francisco Almeda—who had denied his first request. The United States Luge Federation even sent a letter of recommendation to convince the Olympic committee. When still a deluge of letters and telex messages from Ocampo were left unanswered, the weary athlete phoned Almeda directly, finally convincing him how serious he was. It turned out that Pres. Aquino had learned of his plight, so she pressed the sports official to allow him to compete. With that final go-signal, Ocampo gave a big sigh of relief as he mused: ''It was an exhausting process…more exhausting than lugeing.''

When the 15^th Winter Olympics unfolded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on 13 February 1988, the triumphant Ocampo marched into the McMahon Stadium, proudly holding the Philippine flag up high. Accompanied by his American coach, he was the lone Filipino among the thousands of international athletes who congregated in Calgary that year to vie for medals in the premiere winter sport games of the world. He was a sort of a novelty athlete coming from a non-winter country, and Ocampo got all the close-ups in the opening ceremony at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.

Never has there been an athlete who have worked and prepared as hard as Raymond L. Ocampo Jr.—even before the Games had started. ''A medal is not something I'm shooting for,'' the Filipino winter Olympian said. ''But whether I win one or not, it would be nice to bring a focus to the Philippines for something other than the troubles they have been having. That's just the way I feel.''

Ocampo finished in 35^th place, in a field of 36 starters. Finishing ahead of him in 34^th place was George Tucker—yes, the same Puerto Rican luger he beat in 1986, and a returning Olympian. He beat out last placer Albertu Carpentier Altin of Netherland Antilles. The Washington Post noted that Ocampo’s next-to-last finish was still a victory for the Philippines.

(POSTSCRIPT: In 2010, Raymond served as an honorary captain of the U.S. Olympic Luge Team that competed in Vancouver, Canada. After retiring from Oracle Corporation in 2015, Ocampo became a private investor and served on the boards of companies and nonprofit organizations, like the Asian Pacific Fund, a foundation that he chaired from 2006-2010. Ocampo is the principal founder of the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC) and the President/CEO of Samurai Surfer LLC, a private investment company . His philanthropic work includes annual scholarships and internships he has provided to FBANC since 2000 and National Filipino Lawyers Association (NFALA) Foundation since 2020.)

SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Ocampo

Raymond L. Ocampo Jr. , https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=667210&privcapId=338154

“NEXT-TO-LAST FINISH A VICTORY”, The Washington Post, 16 February 1988.

OLYMPIC PROFILE: RAYMOND OCAMPO; One-Man Luge Team With Tale of 2 Flags, By MICHAEL JANOFSKY, Nov. 29, 1987, https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/29/sports/olympic-profile-raymond-ocampo-one-man-luge-team-with-tale-of-2-flags.html

Pictures: https://www.h5.com/ray-ocampo-jr/, New York Times, Nov. 29, 1987

Screen Grabs:, 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, youtube

52. Long Jumper VISITACIÓN BADANA, 1ST Philippine Gold Medalist, 1958 Tokyo Asiad

The honor of winning the first Gold Medal for the Philippines in the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan was the country’s top female jumper VISITACIÓN “Vessie” BADANA- RIBAGORDA, whose performance inspired the Philippine team to finish in 2^nd place overall, behind powerhouse Japan.

Born on 2 July 1937 to Pacifico and Ceferina Badana in the small barrio of Cogon Pardo, Cebu, Vessie was an athletic young girl who competed in inter-school meets in the province. She continued with these competitions in her teen years, where she got even better, prompting Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) to offer her an athletic scholarship.

At that time in the 50s, CIT trained- female athletes were considered the best in the country, like Asia’s sprint queen Inocencia Solis, Asian games sprint/hurdler medalist Francisca Sanopal, Manolita Cinco and javelin thrower Vivencia Sabido. Initially, Badana was doing sprints and low hurdles, but her CIT coach, Dean Vicente Tigas had other ideas when they noticed her explosive starts, and how long her vertical leaps were, when she ran. Thus, the 5’3”, 106 lb. athlete was trained to do running Broad Jump (now called Long Jump), which she found to her liking.

Her first major athletic break was in 1954, when, at 17, Badana was named to the national team to compete in the Broad Jump event of the 3rd Asian Games in Manila. The top Filipina jumper then was the unstoppable Inocencia Celis, but the best in the region were the Japanese. Sure enough, Yoshie Takahashi secured the Gold (5.68m), followed by teammates Atsuko Nambu (5.64m), and Mikiko Tazaki (5.36m) for a dominant 1-2-3 finish. Solis set a new Philippine record of 5.18 m. (17 ft. 1 and 1/8 in.) but that was good only for fourth place. Badana and promising jumper Salome Banate finished at the tail end of the broad jump competition.

The calibre of competition spurred Badana to do even better in the next year, and sure enough, at the next Intercollegiate Athletic Championship, she placed first in the Broad Jump, breaching the 17 ft, mark with a leap of 17 ft., 1 inch., just 1/8” shy off the national record. That feat was included in the Best Philippine Track and Field Performance for the 1955-1956 Season.

In 1957, Badana made her appearance in 3 major meets. She started the year in Baguio when she joined 4th PRISAA Meet in February. Badana convincingly won the Broad Jump with amazing 17 ft. 4 ¾ ins. Her region, Central Visayas captured the overall championship crown that year.

Later in March, at the 1957 National Track & Field in May, she won the Running Broad Jump at 17 ft. 3/8 inch. To prove how versatile she was, Badana also reached the finals of the High Jump, where she placed 4^th with a leap of 4 ft. 9 inches. Her CIT teammate, Lolita Lagrosas won Gold with her 4 feet 11 7/8 inch effort. But it was in that year’s National Intercollegiate/Intersecondary and Women’s Track & Field Championships where she made headlines. She established a new Philippine record of 17 ft. 8 7/8 ins (5.387 m), surpassing Solis’s record that she set in the 1954 Manila Asiad. Solis was a distant 2^nd at 16 ft. 4 inches.

Badana’s place in the Philippine Team to the 1958 Asian Games was assured. The Games opened on 24 May and were played until June 1, 1958. Badana set the tempo for the Philippines when she competed for the Long Jump. The defending champion from Japan, Yoshie Takahashi who had won the past Gold with a jump of 5.68 m. was conspicuously absent. Only her Bronze medalist, Mikiko Tazaki, was a repeat delegate from Japan.

Mustering her courage and channeling all her power and energy, Badana jumped her best, and according to Japanese press reports, the Filipina “executed an astounding best broad jump to win the first Gold Medal in Track and Field for the Philippines”. In fact, Badana accomplished her Personal Best and a new Philippine record of 5.64 m. or 18 ft. 6.05 inches) Silver went to Tazaki (5.49 m.), an improvement from her Bronze finish in 1954, and the Bronze to Taipei’s Huang Soon-sang (5.32 m). It was said that the Japanese Sports Press had been “truly charmed” by her “refreshing friendliness.”

The Philippine delegation went agog over the first Gold Medal Badana claimed for the country—and it took a woman to accomplish the feat. Inspired by her win, the Athletic Team---which went gold-less in Manila—won 2 more Golds, 4 Silvers, 4 Bronzes. Of the 49 medals brought home, Athletics contributed 11, thus redeeming their sorry performance in the last games. The Tokyo Asiad has been the most fruitful for the Philippines in terms of the total number of medals garnered.

Badana’s next stop was no less than the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Thirty international female athletes vied for the 12 Long Jump finalist spots. In the trials, Badana was the 16^th athlete to take her 3 jumps---she leaped to 5.38 m. on her 1^st attempt, 5.59 m. on her 2^nd attempt, while her 3^rd jump was fouled. When all the scores had been tallied, Badana’s 5.59 m. jump (her 2^nd personal best), put her in 24^th position among the 30 preliminary finishers. She failed to advance, thus ending her one and only Olympic journey.

In her later years, Visitacion Badana married Porferio P. Ribagorda, a fellow athlete of note, who was employed at the Cebu Institute of Technology-University. They had 5 children: Ruth (now Abarquez), Evelyn (Ybas), Brenda (Abarquez) Ann (Bohol) and Gilbert Ribagorda. Vessie also worked there in the school as the University Registrar until her passing on 6 Dec. 1993, at the age of 56.

Badana’s 5.64 m. National Record would endure for over a decade as she paved the way for a new generation of women long jumpers to follow in the sport: Lydia Rosalada Silva-Netto who broke her record with a leap of 5.70 m. ( reset to 5.71 m. in 1970 by her contemporary Lolita Lagrosas), Elma Muros-Posadas, and the spectacular Marestella Torres-Sunang, the current record holder at 6.72 m. achieved at the Kazakhstan Open, Almaty, Kazakhstan on 4 July 2016.

SOURCES:

Special thanks to Ma'am Gwen Bohol, granddaughter of Visitacion Badana-Ribagorda, for furnishing additional information to this article.

Best Philippine Track & Field Performance 1955-56 Season, The Filipino Athlete, 1956

1957 National Track & Field Championship, National Intercollegiate-Intersecondary & Womn’s Track and Field Championships. The Filipino Athlete, May 1957 issue, p.7

Central Visayas Wins 4^th PRISAA Meet, The Filipino Athlete, June 1957 issue, p. 7

The 1958 National Intercollegiate Track & Field Championships, The Filipino Athlete, 1958

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1958_Asian_Games

Olympiad Long Jump Results: https://www.olympedia.org/results/60024

Asian Games Manila Philippines 1954, https://atfs.org/wp-content/uploads/Asian-Games-1954-Manila.pdf

51. Sprinter and Hurdler CONSTANTINO J. ALAMBRA: Far East Man of Speed

The 1930s decade spawned many sprinting stars, thanks to the athletic programs of the United States Army Philippine Division for their Filipino scouts and recruits. Every year, the McKinley Games, consisting of track and field and swimming events, were held to test the sporting skills and strengths of both the U.S. and Filipino army men.

Many products of these games went on to become national athletes that competed in Olympics and major regional sporting competitions like medalists Miguel White (hurdler), Teofilo Yldefonso (swimmer), Nemesio de Guzman (track), and Far East Games champ Miguel Sujeco (pole vaulter). Add to this list the name of CONSTANTINO J. ALAMBRA, who made a name for himself as both a hurdler, sprinter and relay specialist at the Far East Championship Games.

Very little is known about Alambra’s life before he became an athlete. Like many able-bodied young men out to find their place in the sun, Alambra applied, and was taken in by the U.S. Army Phil. Division, as member of the Philippine Scouts. It was in the McKinley Games that his running talent was discovered when he began winning various events from the quarter-mile run (400 m) to shorter sprints, and the hurdles. Alambra was considered a major rival of the celebrated hurdler/sprinter Miguel White, and they have crossed tracks many times.

In 1929, the Army fielded him in the Philippine National Athletic Meet where Alambra ruled the 400 meter run. He duplicated that feat in 1930, and established a National Record of 51.0 secs. With that feat, he also earned a ticket to the 1930 Far East Games held in Tokyo, Japan, where he was entered in 3 events.

Alambra bombed out of the 200 meter dash but captured two team Silvers for the 4 x 200 m. Relay (with German Candari, Anselmo Gonzaga, and David Nepomuceno) and the 4 x 400 m. Relay (with Candari, Gonzaga and Miguel White), all won by Japanese athletes who managed to keep the athletic championship title. That year’s Far East Games would be known for the sorry performances of the Filipino athletes who could only bag 2 Golds, won by Felizardo Casia (200 m. hurdles) and Simeon Toribio (high jump).

P.A.A.F. officials lost no time in revitalizing the sports program to ensure that this would not happen again. After all, the Philippines was poised to host the next Far East Games in 1934, followed by the the staging of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

The 1931 Philippine National Athletic Meet was once again held in February, with the best athletes from the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) , the Army, and the Bureau of Education. Defending champion Alambra was the heavy favorite to win the 400 m. race. One more win could earn him the chance to own the P.A.A.F. Silver Cup permanently, as he had already won the same event twice in the past 2 years. He breezed thru the trials and was supposed to run on the final day of the competition. Unfortunately, he developed cramps and pulled out of the Finals, allowing NCAA stand-out Silvino Cristobal to take the quarter-mile run.

Alambra took the loss in stride and focused on his training that included travelling to Iloilo and Negros Oriental in November 1933, along with fellow McKinley athletes to give exhibition and compete against the best athletes of the provinces. His efforts bore fruit as by the end of April 1934, the P.A.A.F announced that he had been shortlisted as one of the 71 athletes, to be quartered in De La Salle College as aspirants for the Philippine Olympic Team.

The candidates were divided into groups and assigned a Coach to oversee their over-all training. After their training, they will run in qualifying races against each other to determine the final members of the Philippine team. Coach Pedro Ablan was assigned to groups of athletes who were proficient in running all races that covered the 400 m distance: 400 m. flat race, 400 m. hurdles, 4 x 400 m. (1600) relay. Alambra was in this elite group that included names like Miguel White, Nemesio de Guzman, Jesus Roa, Serafin Estrada, and German Candari.

Alambra triumphed in the 400 meter hurdles, upsetting Miguel White who came in 2^nd, with Roa in 3^rd. In the 400 m. race, however, Candari smashed Alambra’s national record of 51 secs., lowering it down to 50.2 secs. In the 4 x 400 m. relay, Alambra teamed up with Candari, White and de Guzman to tie the record that they themselves set early in April. Their clocking of 3:20.0 mins broke the games record of 3:24.06 secs by the Japanese in the last Far East Games.

On 4 April 1934, the names of the members of the new Philippine athletic team to the 1934 Far East Games in Manila were announced—and Alambra was high up on the list. He has made it again to his second Oriental Olympics, this time, happening in his home turf of Manila.

Hopes and spirits were high as the 1934 Games opened in the heart of Manila. After days of intense competition, host nation Philippines, again took second place overall in Athletics after Japan. This time though, Filipinos claimed the other seven titles and had a clean sweep in the 400 meters—in the 400 m. hurdles, Miguel White denied his arch-rival the Gold, and this time, Alambra had to settle for the Silver medal, but still ahead of Japan’s Masao Michihara, the Bronze medalist.

The 400 m. flat race saw the Filipinos winning the top 3 places with German Candari breaking the 50 sec. barrier with a 49.8 sec. clocking, followed by Nemesio de Guzman and Serafin Estrada. In the 4 x 400 m,, the Philippine team (Alambra, Candari, de Guzman, White) won the exciting match with 3:20.3 mins, just a hair’s breadth ahead from Japan which finished in 3:20.5 mins.Though the Philippines still placed 2^nd to Japan, our athletes’ performance was way better than the last edition.

Alambra was touted as a possible Philippine Olympic team member for the 1936 Berlin Olympiad, but in the end, only 4 runners were sent to Germany: Miguel White, Nemesio de Guzman, Antonio Salcedo and Teodoro Malasig. It was in Berlin that White placed 3^rd in the 400 m. hurdles and won a rare Bronze for the Philippines.

With the end of the major athletic tournaments, Alambra buckled down to focus on his family. He took on a wife, Mariana Japson, an Ilocana. A son, Fermin, was born to them in 1939. In 1940, Alambra was appointed teacher of Leyte High School by the Director of Education, Celedonio Salvador.

Things were going well until the War intervened. Lt. Constantino Alambra was called to active duty and died defending the country. His name, along with 51 other athlete heroes, is inscribed a bronze plaque that was unveiled on 17 July 1951, on the wall of the coliseum facade inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. It was put up during the term of president Jorge Vargas of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation.

SOURCES:

Friedlander, Alfred. “Results of the Philippine National Athletoc Competitions”, Graphic Magazine, 18 Feb. 1931, p. 22

“3 Swimmers, 1 Track Man Leaving for Visayas This Morning”, La Vanguardia, 27 Nov. 1933. P.9

“71 candidates are quartered aspirants for the P.O. Olympic Team at La Salle College”. Tribune, 24 Mar. 1934, p. 10

“Three Record were Improved in the Final Tests”, Tribune, 30 Apr. 1934, p. 10

Alinea Eddie, “For Flag and Country: In Sports and in War”, Business Mirror, 28 Aug. 2022. https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/08/28/for-flag-and-country-in-sports-and-in-war/

Alinea, Eddie, “A Tribute to Sports War Heroes”, Philboxing.com. 13 June 2013. http://m.philboxing.com/news/story-84257.ht

50. Welterweight Boxer MANFREDO ALIPALA, Lone Gold at the 1962 Jakarta Asiad

The 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta were the first to be held in the new 1960s decade from Aug. 24 to Sep. 4, 1962. Even with Japan wresting the boxing championship from the Philippines in the last 1958 Tokyo Games, hopes were fresh for the 6 young Filipino boxers to deliver more medals.

Leading the charge was a Far Eastern University standout student boxer, MANFREDO Panes ALIPALA (b. 25 Oct. 1938) of Murcia, Negros Occidental, son of Moises Alipala, the municipal chief of police, and Consuelo Panes, school principal of Murcia Elementary School.

“Noning”, as he was called, grew up in Bacolod, and attended the West Negros College. He then went to Manila to pursue his higher education at the Far Eastern University, to take up a Business Administration course. The university was known for its excellent amateur boxing program so the athletic freshman joined the team and proved to be an excellent student, amassing wins in major interscholastic meets.

This led to Manfredo being sent as the FEU entry to the national open boxing championship. The 5’8” student athlete ruled his welterweight class (67 kg.) , which gave him a slot in the Philippine boxing team that went to Indonesia for the 1962 Asiad.

The boxing matches were held at the the Senayan Tennis Stadium in the last weeks of August. Alipala breezed through the rounds of 16, then made it to the quarterfinals, and all the way to the semifinals.

Now, the only boxer standing in the way of a Gold Medal was the formidable Japanese opponent, Kichijiro Hamada, 4 years his junior and inches taller. But the tough Alipala held his ground and, at the end of the 3 rounds, was announced as the winner. He had secured the one and only boxing Gold for the Philippines in the 1962 Jakarta Games—one of only 7 that year--with the Silver going to Hamadas, and the Bronze, shared by Korea’s Choi Song-keun with Singto Jamjitman of Thailand.

Incidentally, three team mates, bantamweight Jose Ramirez, featherweight Egino Grafia and lightweight Catalino Arpon contributed 3 Bronze Medals to the Philippine harvest.

Two years later, Manfred Alipala was at the head of the Philippine Olympic delegation proudly bearing the country’s flag during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics parade of nations at the opening ceremonies. Joining him in the boxing campaign were Dominador Calumarde (flyweight), Arnulfo Torrevillas (bantamweight), Anthony Villanueva (featherweight), Rodolfo Arpon (lightweight), and Felix Ocampo (light-middleweight), with their able coach, Celestino “Aling” Enriquez.

When the boxing preliminary matches commenced, Alipala subdued Iraq’s Al-Kharki Khalid. In the round of 16, he suffered a surprise defeat in the hands of Kichijiro Hamada, the same boxer whom he had conquered in Jakarta 2 years earlier. Despite this setback, Anthony Villanueva saved the day for the boxers by winning a historic Silver.

A year after the Olympics, Alipala turned pro, fighting matches against Filipino boxing greats like Eduardo Canete, Fil Ravalo and Phil Robinson. In the late 60s, he chased Oriental and World titles in the welterweight and middleweight class against boxers in the region like Korea’s Ki-Soo Kim and Hawaii’s Takeshi Fujii. He finished his professional career with a modest record of 3 Wins (1 by a knockout) and 8 losses.

About his personal life, Alipala was first married to Corazon N. Villanueva (d.2012), sister of Olympic silver medalist Anthony Villanueva, and his 1964 Tokyo team mate. Together, they had 4 children: Mariela, Manfriela, Manfredo Jr, and Mancor Alipala. After the couple's separation, he married Sebastiana Taguines and moved to Tarlac. This union produced Manbie, Marinette and Mylove Alipala.

Post-Olympics, Alipala held a few security jobs to provide for his growing family. After retirement, Alipala was taken in by the Philippine Sports Commission under chairman Mel Lopez, as a consultant. He and his family settled in barangay San Roque, in Tarlac City, Tarlac.

“My father lived a simple life, and shied away from the limelight”, recalls daughter Manfriela. “He was a nice person to everyone, especially to his friends in Bacolod.” At age 68, boxing great Manfredo Alipala quietly died in his sleep, 8 Oct. 2006, and was interred at the Garden of Peace Memorial Park in nearby barangay Sapang Maragul.

SOURCES:

Information and pictures, courtesy of Manfriela Junet Alipala, daughter of Manfredo Alipala.

Alipala, Asiad gold medalist, dies at 68.(Sports News)(Obituary)Manila Bulletin, October 19, 2006 | Copyright

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfredo_Alipala

49. Partner-Perfect: PATRICIA B. INGAYO, All-Around Tennis Ace (active mid 1950s-1971)

The versatile tennis player PATRICIA Bengson INGAYO (b. 14 Apr. 1937/d.11 Jul. 2013) possessed such depth of skills that allowed her to play and win medals in Singles, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles and Team events. At the peak of her performance, she medalled consecutively in 3 Asian Games campaigns in all tennis events, and figured in the finals of several editions of the Philippines Open International Championships, founded in 1918 (later known as PHILTA International Championships).

Patricia Yngayo was born in Ermita, Manila, the daughter of Lope Yngayo, and his wife, Salud G. Bengson who were married on 9 Jan 1935. Originally from Cebu, Yngayo went to the University of the Philippines and played school tennis. He became a national and Metropolitan tennis champion who played in the Davis Cup with Guillermo Aragon against Austria in May 1928. He later became a coach and trained the Philippine Davis Cup team. Lope Yngayo was certainly an influence for Patricia to take up the sports of tennis, and her early competitions revolved around tennis tournaments organized by community clubs.

1958 was the turning point of Yngayo’s tennis career when, in the finals of the Philippine International Open Tennis Championships, she barged into the Women’s Single’s event and placed second to the great Desideria Ampon—who would be, for the next years, her one and only greatest rival. In the next years --1959, 1960, 1966, 1969, 1971—Ampon would relegate Yngayo to a runner-up finish, except in 1970 where American Ceci Martinez beat her in the finals. Yngayo never won the top women’s singles title in this Manila-based tournament.

Yngayo and Ampon were named as the Philippine delegates to the women’s tennis competition at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan. She and Ampon made it to the Women’s Doubles---and bagged the Silver, won by Japan’s Sachiko Kamo and Reiko Miyagi. In the Mixed Doubles, she and partner Miguel Dungo reached the finals and claimed the Silver medal. It was in the Doubles Events that Yngayo was most successful in the Asian Games, winning medals in succession in Tokyo, Jakarta and Bangkok through her perfect partnership with Desi Ampon.

In the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, Yngayo finally annexed an individual medal to her collection, winning Bronze in the Women’s Singles, shared with compatriot Desi Ampon, after 2 Japanese—Akiko Fukui and Reiko Miyagi—who won Gold and Silver, respectively. The Yngayo-Ampon tandem were also triumphant in the Women’s Doubles and the Team Event, taking home the Bronze.

Her final 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand yielded 2 precious Silvers in the Women’s Doubles (with Desi Ampon) and Mixed Doubles (with Federico Deyro), and Bronze in the Women’s Team. In all, Yngayo—in tandem with Ampon, Dungo and Deyro—amassed 8 medals—4 Silvers and 3 Bronzes in the quadrennial games. Add to that her individual Bronze in the Women’s Singles—and that makes her the most productive Filipina tennis player in the Asian Games to date.

The bemedalled Patricia Yngayo may not have won an individual tennis title or an individual tennis gold in her lifetime, but as they say, victory is not just about coming home with Golds. It is also about coming back stronger, rebounding with resilience in the relentless pursuit of excellence. In her competitive years, Yngayo demonstrated all that, and more—proving her status as one of the few all-around women tennisters of the country. The accomplished tennis ace passed away at age 76, after a lingering illness.