4. DR. REGINO R. YLANAN: From a Top Student Athlete to a Pillar of Philippine Sports

In the annals of Philippine sports history, one name stands out for his multifarious roles in advancing and supporting the cause of national sports: DR. REGINO R. YLANAN—a premiere student athlete, a bemedalled international track star, a medical doctor, educator, coach, and venerable sports official and administrator.

His life legacy includes winning the first gold medals for the Philippines at the Far East Games (1913) , heading the University of the Philippines P.E. Dept. (1921), co-founding the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF, 1924) as well as the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the Philippines (NCAA, 1924), and coaching  the first Filipino Olympian David Nepomuceno in Paris (1924). Four years later, in Amsterdam, he was back as physician of the Philippine Olympic team. It was also during his term as PAAF secretary-treasurer that the Rizal Memorial Stadium was completed (1936).

He started carving his name in sports early. Born on 7 Sep. 1889 in Bogo City, Cebu to Sen. Pedro Rodriguez and Francisca Ylanan, Regino developed an early passion for sports in athletics and baseball. In Cebu High School, he was the captain of the baseball team that became a 3-time interscholastic champion (1910, 1912, 1913) that played in the Manila Carnival games.

After high school, he enrolled at the College of Medicine & Surgery (C.M.S.), University of the Philippines where he further honed his athletic skills. His younger brother and fellow athlete Catalino, was also a student there. The brothers became members of both the crack U.P. Varsity Baseball Team and the C.M.S. Baseball Team which became school champions in 1914-1915. The two were also in the varsity and college Basketball Teams. 

On their own, Regino was both a member of the C.M.S. and the U.P. Varsity Track teams in 1916. Catalino was a Varsity Track member the year before, in 1915.

The older Ylanan came into national prominence at the inaugural Far Eastern Championship Games held in Manila in 1913, participated in by 6 countries. The 24 year old athlete parlayed his baseball-throwing skill by winning  Gold in Discus (28.28 meters), Shotput (10.76 meters)  and Pentathlon.

In the 2^nd edition of the games played in Shanghai in 1915, Regino was back, this time with his brother Catalino, as among the 6 representatives of the school. Regino defended his Shotput title with a heave of 10.91 meters for a back-to-back Gold, plus a Bronze in Pentathlon. Catalino won the team Gold for basketball. 

In 1916, Regino resumed playing baseball, captaining the varsity team to win that year’s  P.A.A.F. Baseball Championship. The two brothers would return to the 1917 Far Eastern Games in Tokyo, their last participation in the games. In Japan, Catalino claimed his second basketball gold, while the Philippine  Baseball team, in which Regino was fielded as a catcher, lost the Gold to Japan.

Upon his return, Ylanan finished his medical studies in 1918 and became a surgeon at the Philippine General Hospital. With his heart still in sports, he accepted a government offer to go to the  Springfield College, Massachusetts for a course in physical education, which he finished in 1920. This led to a job at his alma mater as head of the U.P. Physical Education Department.

A highlight of his career in sports administration was representing the Philippines at the 1924 Paris Olympics and to accompany star sprinter David Nepomuceno, the first Filipino Olympic delegate. He would attend two more Olympics, in Amsterdam (1928) and Berlin (1936), to witness the first medals won by Filipinos in swimming and athletics.

In 1927 he was named National Athletic Director and Secretary-Treasurer for the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation, the forerunner of the Philippine Olympic Committee. The last Far East Games was held in Manila in 1934, and from thereon, with 2 looming wars in the horizon (2^nd Sino-Japanese War that began in Manchuria, World War II) , interest in regional sports went into a decline.

But Ylanan carried on, authoring and promoting books on basketball and baseball, as  part of his advocacies. He was on his way to finishing “The History and Development of Physical Education and Sports in the Philippines”, when he was felled by a heart attack on23  August 1963. He was about to turn 74. Wife Carmen Wilson-Ylanan, who was one of the early women basketball players in the country, finished writing his opus that finally saw print in 1965

In 1999, the Sports Association of the Philippines acclaimed Regino Ylanan as a “Sports Leader of the Millennnium”, along with Ambrosio Padilla, Gonzalo Puyat, and Florencio Campomanes.  It was a fitting honor or his life-long service to promote a culture of excellence in sports, not just for physical health but also for nation-building. For many, Dr. Regino R. Ylanan was truly both a pillar and Father of Philippine Sports.

SOURCES:

Regino Ylanan, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regino_Ylanan

CultureEd Philippines, Sagisag Kultura: Regino Ylanan: https://philippineculturaleducation.com.ph/ylanan-regino/

1915, 1916 University of the Philippines Yearbooks

Athletic Handbook for the Philippine Public Schools, Bureau of Education, Manila, 1904. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/acp1028.1913.040/29?rgn=full+text&view=image&q1=Regino+Ylanan

The Games of the VIII Olympiad: Official Report, (part 1, page 89). la84foundation.org. French Olympic Committee

Iñigo, Manolo R. (2001-09-07). Ylanan Legacy a Tough Act to Follow. Philippine Daily Inquirer, pg. A22. Retrieved on 2015-01-12.

3. Making History: Sprinter DAVID NEPOMUCENO, The 1st Philippine Olympian

The honor of becoming the first Philippine athlete to participate in the World Olympics belongs to DAVID NEPOMUCENO, a trackster who was officially sent to the 8^th Olympiad in Paris, France, held from 4 May to 27 July, 1924.

Though still under American rule, the Philippines was allowed to join the International Olympic Committee in 1918, on the basis of its established Philippine Amateur Athletic  Federation (PAAF) which became the governing body of Philippine sports in 1911. It was only in 1924 though, that a Filipino athlete was sent to compete officially under our flag, making the Philippines the first country from Southeast Asia to join the world’s premiere sporting event.

David Nepomuceno was born in Oas, Albay on 29 June 1900. Not much is known about him before 1924, except that he comes from a quiet, unassuming family who valued hard work and simple living. He grew up in his humble town and obviously benefitted from the American physical education programs that were introduced in local public schools. The smalltown youngster proved proficient in both athletics and baseball which led to his participation in many interscholastic and regional meets.

As he came of age, Nepomuceno joined the U.S. Army’s Philippine Scouts based in Fort McKinley, Manila. His athletic prowess came into good use at the Philippine Department Athletic Tournament that was regularly held at Fort W. McKinley. Also known as McKinley Games, the large sporting event was participated in by members of the Philippine Scouts of the U.S. Army, various infantry units and air corps who competed in athletics, swimming, boxing and ball games.

Many of the top athletes from these games saw action at the PAAF Championships that were timed with the holding of the 1924 Manila Carnival at Wallace Field in February. That same year, the Olympic body opened slots for the Philippines in athletics at the scheduled Paris Olympiad. Barely 3 months after the carnival games, PAAF had to mount a series qualifying events in May 5, at Wallace Field.

The formidable sprinter from Leyte, Fortunato Catalon, was heavily favored to make it to Paris. After all, he was the Far Eastern Champion Games winner  for 4 consecutive editions (1917, 1919, 1921), winning Gold for both 100 yard and 220 yard races. But it was the younger Nepomuceno who pulled a major surprise, by running 100 yards in a sensational 9.54 seconds. Though Catalon matched his time for the same distance, he was overshadowed by Nepomuceno, as it was he was chosen to run the 100 m and 200 m. at the games, with Catalon as a “non-partant” (non-runner) in the sprint doubles, as listed on the official program, along with Juan Taduran in Decathlon.

Nepomuceno lost no time in preparing for his trip to French capital where the games were scheduled for 3 months, starting May and ending in July. In fact, he applied for a passport on May 14—7 days after the opening of the Olympics. Hi passport forms give us a glimpse of David’s personal details. The brown-complexioned Filipino listed his occupation as a soldier, standing 5 feet 3 inches tall, with an oval face and round chin. His mouth and forehead were of medium size. His hair was black, his eyes dark brown, with a turned-up nose (retrousse).

Three days later, he left on board passenger and cargo ship Sui Sang, along with PAAF official Dr. Regino Ylanan, who doubled as his coach, being a Far East Games veteran himself. After over a month of sea travel, the Philippine delegation of 3 people (the 3^rd was attache B. Minelle) arrived in time for the start of the athletic events. Nepomuceno barely had a month to get adjusted to the European weather, size up the competition and  train for the heats that were set on the first week of July.

Nepomuceno was grouped with 5 other runners in Heat 6, of 17 heats total. These include Antonin Svoboda  (Czechoslovakia), Henricus Adrianus “Harry” Broos (Holland), George Dustan (South Africa), Poul Schiang (Denmark), and José-María Larrabeiti (Spain). With his physical condition affected by the long trip, Nepomuceno had an unremarkable run, trailing all the runners, finishing sixth, and last.

The 100 meter dash finals was won by Harry Abrahams of Great Britain, whose victory was retold in the 1981 Oscar award-winning film, “Chariots of Fire”. Despite being branded as a true story, it has a few factual errors. For example, Abrahams did not look at the 100 meter race as a chance to redeem himself for his 200 meter loss, since the 100 m. preceded the 200 m. finals.

Our valiant Olympian fared better in the heats for the 200 meter-dash.  Lumped in Heat 15 with Maurice Degrelle (France) , Marinus van den Berge (Holland), Lawrence Betts (South Africa) and Henricus Cockuyt (Belgium), Nepomuceno placed third. Unfortunately, only the first 2 fastest could advance to the quarterfinals.

Still, Nepomuceno came home with head up high, as his Olympic experience only served to bolster his reputation as a major force to reckon with in Asian athletics. The next year, he proved just that in the 1925 Far Eastern Games in Manila, recording a personal best of 22.5 secs. in the 200 meter dash, defeating the strong Japanese contenders.

Then, in the 1927 staging of the Games in Shanghai, he won the Gold medal in the 100 meter dash, registering a record-breaking time of 10.6 secs., the first Filipino athlete to run the distance under 11 seconds, a clocking that stood for many years.

He continued to compete sporadically in the 1930s, and newspapers would still refer to him as “the 1^st Filipino in the Olympics”, “former Olympic ace”, and “brilliant Olympic veteran” years after his Paris odyssey. In 1934, David was still good to be shortlisted for training by American coaches for possible inclusion in the next Philippine Olympic Team. Few years later, he opted to retire early from the Philippine Scouts and retreat to his quiet, domestic life. He was afflicted with a lingering lung disease which led to his hospitalization at the Sternberg General Hospital beginning in May 1939.

He never recovered from his disease and passed away 4 months later at age 39 on 7 September 1937. David Nepomuceno will go down in the history of Philippine sports as a pioneer athlete who made history by raising the flag of the Philippines for the very first time on the world’s biggest sports stage, for other great Filipino athletes to follow.

Source: wikimedia, David Nepomuceno

SOURCES/REFERENCES:

David Nepomuceno phot, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/143942829?objectPage=320

The Far East Games, https://www.rsssf.org/tablesf/fareastgames.html

“Two Filippinos did 100 Yards in 9.45 secs.”The Boston Globe, Mass. 5 May 1924 issue, p.13

“107 Athletes are on Tentative List”, Tribune (Philippines : 1932 - 1945), Saturday 17 February 1934, page 9

“Track Contest On Next Month, Entries Now Open at PAAF Office; Several Veteran Athletes Competing”, The Tribune, 9 Sep. 1933 issue, p. 7.

“Nepomuceno, Former Olympic Ace, Passes”, The Tribune, Thursday 28 Sept.  1939 issue, p. 11

Jojo de Jesus for Dateline Ibalon,”David Nepomuceno, Pioneer Filipino Olympian from Oas, Albay”,  3 Aug. 1924.

David Wallechinsky, The Complete Book of the Olympics, published by the Penguin Group, 1988.

Official Report of the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, LA84 Digital Library.