8. Heights of Triumph, Depths of Tragedy: MIGUEL SUJECO, Champion Pole Vaulter

It is to Ernest “E.J.” Obiena’s credit that Pole Vaulting has become more well-known to Filipino sports audience today. It is a field event that really does not hold much local attraction as previous winners have all been mostly Russians, Europeans and Americans. Obiena’s climb up the athletic rankings-- as high as the second best vaulter in the world, plus his 4^th place finish at his 2^nd Olympic appearance, has done much to elevate the appeal of the sport.

But long before Obiena’s spectacular ascent to pole vault stardom, Filipinos have been outperforming their Asian counterparts in the said discipline for decades, especially in the regional Far Eastern Games that began in 1913. Record books from that era show the names of champion pole vaulters  like Antonio Alo (2-time Gold medalist, FEG 1919, 1921), Numeriano Tagavilla (FEG Gold, 1925), Carlos Mejillano, T. Bucoy, S. Siao, Felipe Asuncion, and the tragic subject of this article, Miguel Sujeco.

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MIGUEL F. SUJECO (b. 29 Sep. 1910) was one of 4 children of Victoriano Sujeco and Modesta de la Fuente with roots in San Miguel, Bulacan and ties to Nueva Ecija. As a student, he trained in athletics and did the rounds of running, throwing and jumping events. Pole vault must have been his calling as at age 15, he was sent to the 1925 Far Eastern Games in Manila held in May--and surprised everyone in his first multi-nation sports outing by winning the Bronze Medal behind co-gold medalists Numeriano Tagavilla and Antonio Alo, clearing the bar at 3.35 meters (10.990 ft.).

No sooner had he settled back to school when, the next year,  he was called again to represent Nueva Ecija at the 1926 Central Luzon Athletic Association Meet. This was an annual meet with events contested by athletes from Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, and Central Luzon Agricutural School (C.L.A.S.). Entered in the Pole Vault, Sujeco cleared the height of 3.395 meters or 11 feet ¼ inch, which was better than his winning jump at the Far Eastern Games . This became an all-time record of the CLAA meet where it stood for over a decade.

In 1927, he was back at age 17 for the Far Eastern Championship Games in Shanghai, China. The teener improved on his leap,  resetting his personal best to 3.60 meters (11.811 ft), winning the Silver medal behind Japan’s Yonetaro Nakazawa who cleared the height of 3.675 m. and became an Olympian.

When he came of age, Sujeco joined the 47^th Infantry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) of the U.S. Army, just like top athletes David Nepomuceno and  Miguel White. He continued training and competing in national meets. At the first tryout matches held at the Rizal Memorial in April 1934, he broke the 12 foot barrier by clearing 12 ft. 1 inch.

In the first week of May, Sujeco was named to the Phil Track and Field team to compete at the 1934 Far Eastern Games in Manila, which went underway from May 16 to 20. Japan’s Sueo Oue copped the gold at 3.96 m (12.992 ft.) , China’s Fu Baolu 2^nd, ad another Japanese, Iwao Matsumoto 3^rd.

Not to be daunted, at the 1936 Army Track Meet (or McKinley Games) held in December, Sujeco broke the Philippine pole vault  record, resetting it to 3.895 meters (12 .78 inches) that would have won Silver at the 1934 FEG.

Another milestone in Sujeco’s life happened the next year, when he married 19 year old Rosario Hamoy Labisig on 20 January 1937.Sadly, they would barely have 5 years of connubial bliss. When World War II reached the Philippines in 1942, Miguel Sujeco was called into active service.

As a member of the  57th Infantry (PS), he was in the regiment that tried to repel the Japanese all throughout the Bataan Peninsula. He was reported missing in action, and then presumed to have died on 23 May 1942. Sgt. Miguel Sujeco’s name is inscribed on the “Walls of the Missing” memorial  at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the capital district. Leaping all his life to reach the sky, pole vaulter Miguel Sujeco, by his tragic, but honorable death, has vaulted to immortality.

SOURCES:

Central Luzon Athletic Association Program 1934-1935

The Tribune, various issues: 5 Feb. 1934;  2 April 1934, p.7; 20 April 1934, p.6; 8 May 1934, 9 May 1934, p. 9; p. 9; 21 June 1935, p.6; 25 Oct. 1934;

La Vanguardia, 25 April 1935, Rotogravure section

FindAGrave, Miguel Sujeco

American Battles Monument Commission, https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/sujeco%3Dmiguel

Gloria Garchitorena-Goloy, Golden Era of Sports, SPORTS ISSUE, Sunday Times Magazine, Sept. 1963, p. 14

Athletics at the 1925 Far Eastern Games, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1925_Far_Eastern_Championship_Games