56. The Flight of Her Javelins: ERLINDA LAVANDIA (1975 to present)

There have only been a handful of successful female javelin throwers from decades in the Philippines—names like Asian Games medalists Vivencia Sabado (1954) , Marcelina Alonso (1966), and national record holder Josephine de la Viña (1971) come to mind.  But no other athlete was as stellar as the ERLINDA LAVANDIA, who dominated the field event for decades, beginning with her debut appearance at the Northern Mindanao Regional Athletic Meet, leading to her amazing medal run in 9 editions in the Southeast Asian Games, where she secured 9 podium finishes, 4 of them Gold.

So untouchable was Lavandia, that she extended her wins long after her retirement, by participating in Asian Masters and  World Masters Athletic Championships, winning more medals even beyond the age of 70. 

Her incredible story began in the small barangay of Marga, Tubod town in distant Surigao del Norte, where she was born on 9 April 1952, to parents Pedro Lavandia Sr. and Eustaquia Bacasnot. Erlinda was the eldest of 8 children ((four girls and four boys) and was destined to be the only athlete in the family.

Her early years were spent in Surigao, where she studied at Tubod Elementary School and proceeded to the Surigao Del Norte National High School.  A sporty kid, she was into everything, from volleyball to running, but it was baseball that became her first love, where she excelled as a catcher. Seeing her far-reaching throws, her first coach Lotheo Seftimo, a college PE teacher, lured her back to athletics—but this time, to the field events of javelin throw, discus throw, hammer throw and shot put.

In 1972, while in her senior year in high school, she was spotted by then Surigao del Norte Gov. Jose C. Sering, and president of the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (PATAFA). The sports executive had seen her performances at the Northern Mindanao Meet in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental where she won the javelin Gold, along with her Palarong Pambansa triumph in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, and was duly impressed. He recruited her for the national team pool and she started her intensive training under Sering’s watchful supervision.

In 1975, the Philippines was invited to join Singapore’s “Festival of Sports”, Pesta Sukan, and it sent a basketball team and a small contingent of athletes including Lavandia. In her first international meet, she won the Gold in javelin. From then on, there was not stopping the hefty, 5’4” thrower.

But Lavandia’s test would come two years later at the very first 1977 Southeast Asian Games at the Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was the inaugural appearance of the Philippines in the multi-sports subregional meet, an off-shoot of the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games that had its final staging in 1975.  The unheralded Lavandia was chosen as one of the pioneer athletes to debut in the games, and she came through with a milestone win—winning the Gold with a throw of 45.22 m., more that 3 meters away from the Singaporean Silver medalist Chua Kim Tee, who did 41.98 m. In so doing, Lavandia established a new Games Record in Javelin Throw, a feat she would repeat in the next two SEA Games.

By 1979, Lavandia had joined the Gintong Alay project sports development and training project that would further hone her athletic skills. She not only defended her javelin title in Jakarta in 1979 with an improved 45. 78 m. throw, and in Manila in 1981, with a 46.20 m. effort, but she broke her own championship records in the process.

Her arch-rival Norsham Yoon of Malaysia would snap her golden streak at the 1983 Singapore SEA Games but Lavandia would reclaim the title in 1985 Thailand SEA Games with a personal best of 47.96 m., another games record. In her 9 years of continuous SEA Games participation,  she always medalled; her last 4 games (1987 Jakarta, 1989 Kuala Lumpur, 1991 Manila, 1993 Singapore) earned her 2 more Silvers and 2 Bronzes.

For many athletes, retirement from the playing field comes at 40. But Lavandia was not done competing yet, for in 1994, at the age 42, she began joining the Asian Masters on a regular basis, collecting a total of 12 Gold Medals by 2016---and she is not stopping. Some of her spectacular wins in the Asian Masters was in 2012, with her record-breaking victory in the javelin event for women 60-64 years old. Lavandia’s new mark was at 32.26 m., accomplished in her final throw. She smashed the old record of 27.36 m. set by Japan’s Kato Atsuko in Thailand in 2009. With that’s, she became the owner of all javelin throw records in the 40 (set in Jakarta, 1994), 45 (Okinawa, 1998), 50 (Dalian, China 2002), and 55 year-old category (Kuala Lumpur, 2010).

In the 2013 World Masters Athletic Championship, Lavandia also made news with her golden win,  hurling the javelin to a distance of  39.83 m. At the 23rd World Masters Athletics Championships in Malaga, Spain, she placed third in the women’s 65-69 javelin throw, doing 27.95 m. on her first attempt.

Her best year was in 2019 at the  Southeast Asia Athletic Championship held in Singapore in May, when the 67-year-old won 4 Golds in different throwing events: javelin, discus, shotput and hammer throw. Her winning momentum continued in 2022 at the Kuala Lumpur International Masters Athletics Championships, where brought home three medals -- 2 Golds (javelin throw and discus throw) and 1 Silver (shot put) .

Her latest feat was at the 22nd Asia Masters Athletics Championships held on November 8-12, 2024 at New Clark City stadium. Before a home crowd Lavandia, now 72, won Golds in the javelin and hammer throw,  plus a Silver in the discus.

Lavandia belongs to an elite field of rare, competitive, more mature athletes—the likes of Felicisimo Ampon, Robert Jaworksi, Elma Muros, Efren Bata Reyes, and even Manny Pacquiao—who do not consider age as a barrier. Our greatest javelin thrower however, believes also in a winning formula she calls her 3Ds -- dedication, determination and discipline, which she has been following all these years to stay in winning form.

The 73 year old legend is also grateful for the sports that has opened opportunities for her to make her dreams take flight and fulfill her role as the eldest in the family. Since the start of her sporting career, she has been doling out financial aid, helping out with family expenses, and sending her siblings to school. Most of all, she believes in giving back to the country she loves. In between competitions, Lavandia  served in the police force, rising to become a Police Chief Inspector until her retirement in 2008. "I always do my best in every competition”, she says, “ Every victory is special for me because I know that I'm doing it for my country.”

SOURCES:

Photos: Erlinda Lavandia FB Page

Athletics at the 1977 SEA Games, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1977_SEA_Games

Erlinda Lavandia Athletic Records: https://athleticspodium.com/athlete/27950/erlinda-lavandia

 “Erlinda Lavandia shares how she started playing Javelin throw”|Magandang Buhay”, ABS-CBN youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xco-dgsNPD0&t=170s

“PH javelin queen Lavandia still in top form”, by Jean Malanum, January 14, 2023,

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1192734

47. JOSEPHINE “Big Jo” DE LA VIÑA and Her Still-Unbroken 54-Year-Old Discus Throw Record.

The discus throw record of Josephine De La Viña has stood for 54 years, without a doubt, the most enduring record in Philippine sports history. It is for this reason that “Big Jo” is regarded as the best thrower that the country has ever produced, and at her peak, ranked 13^th best discus thrower in the Olympics. She was born on 20 April 1946, the eldest child of American-Mexican Norman and Carolina de La Viña of New Lucena (now, Sta. Barbara) Cebu.

De La Viña recalls that hers was not an athletic family. Her father used to be a professional bowler, and that was it. For some reason, she became attracted to softball, her first sport, which she played as a student of Labangon Elementary School. But her affair with the Grecian discus began when she enrolled at the Cebu Institute of Technology High School that was renowned for producing the most successful women athletes of the Philippines—the likes of Asia’s track queen Inocencia Solis, hurdler-sprinter Francisca Sañopal, javelin thrower Vivencia Subido, and broad jumper Visitacion Badana. From throwing balls,  Josephine discovered her natural flair in the throwing events of discus, javelin and shot put. She caught the eye of Dean Amancio Alcordo and Vicente Tigas, who put her on a scholarship and began training her right away.

The hefty teen, who would grow to an intimidating height of 6 feet, with a weight of 180 lbs,  earned a Bronze at her first ever international competition–the 1st Asian Track and Field Championship in Tokyo–with a heave of 37.39 meters. At the 1963 National Open Track and Field competitions at the Rizal Stadium. She set the audience gasping with an incredible heave of 41. 987 m (137 ft. 9 inches) in the women’s discus throw.

At age 18, she was named to the National  Olympic team, where she put on a show by improving her throw to 42.27 meters at the Tokyo Games in 1964, good enough for 18^th place. De La Viña got even better when she joined the 1965 National Open Championships in Manila, registering a remarkable 158 feet, 9 inches (48.387 m.), topping the Asian mark of Japanese Chizoko Tanaka (150 feet, 7 inches, or 45.89 m.)

The next year, De La Viña was the proud flag bearer at the 5th Asian Games in Bangkok (1966) . Competing against favored Japanese amazons, “Big Jo” held her own and threw the discus to an Asian record-shattering 47.58 meters (156 ft. 1 ¼ inches)—which was not even her best throw–to give the Philippines its first Gold. She had been averaging 162 feet in practices, which would have been enough to place her among the top 6 in the world Olympics.

The civil engineering student would go on to participate in two more Olympic quests in Mexico (1968), where she would improve her ranking to 15^th  of the world’s best. De La Viña was also entered in the Shot Put event, but did not start, opting to focus on her pet event, the Discus.

She went into deep training in the U.S. in between the Olympic years under coach Bob Lawson, and it was there that Big Jo set a personal best and a new Philippine record that would—to this day—remain unsurpassed.  At the 1971 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships that took place on 10 July at the Memorial Stadium on the campus of Bakersfield College in Bakersfield, California, De La Viña threw the discus to an astounding 54.71 meters (179 feet, 5 inches) defeating USA’s Carol Jean Moseke L. Frost, the 1967 Pan American Games gold medalist, and 1968 Olympian.

No other Filipina thrower has come near to this record; in fact, the second-best throw also belongs to De La Viña at 53.92 meters, achieved during the qualifying rounds of the Munich Olympics. She almost qualified for the finals, landing in 13^th place, but only 12 athletes moved forward to contest the medals.

To date, after 54 years, De La Viña is the only Filipina to reach--and exceed--the 50 meter mark in the Discus Throw event. For perspective, Dorie Cortejo’s silver medal heave of 45.26 m.  at the 1989 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games is over 9 meters behind De La Viña’s best. “Big Jo” passed away on 4 November  2011in Iloilo, leaving behind an unbroken record that is expected to endure for many more years, earning her a special place in the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.

SOURCES:

The Philippine Athlete, P.A.A.F. Official Publication, 1966

“Josephine de la Viña”, olympedia, https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/74514

Quintana, Buddy. “A Most Charming Champion”, The Sunday Times Magazine, 1967

“Josephine de la Viña, Aiming for a Medal”, The Sunday Times Magazine, 13 Oct. 1968 (Cover)

44. ANTONIO ALO and his Vaults of Gold, 1919-1925

When the Americans introduced Athletics to Filipinos, they included Field Events (hence, Track and Field) that included throwing (classic discus, shotput, javelin) and jumping events like  broad jump, hop, skip and jump, standing long jump (now the high jump) and the Pole Vault. These are less popular as they don’t elicit the same energy level from the crowds as the sprint races; they take awhile to finish. Yet, a Field Event Gold is worth the same as a Gold won in the more glamorous century dash or hurdles.

In forming their track teams, national coaches scouted schools for students with certain body types  adapted for  jumping, leaping (tall, slim, with springy legs) and throwing (hefty, muscled, stocky, yet nimble). It was in this way that in the 1917 Far East Games in Japan, the coaches discovered 2 boys who had these built and trained them for the Pole Vault, an ancient sport known during the medieval days.

JUSTO LLANES, 20, at 5’7”, was from Bangued, Abra. He was tall and long-limbed,  and even his face was described as “long and oval”. From Cebu, Cebu came 19 year old ANTONIO ALO (b. 10 May 1898), an inch shorter, and described as “round-faced”. The 2 students were named to the National Athletic Team, and set for Japan on 23 April 1917. On board the ship “Panay”. These two young athletes thus became the first known Filipino Pole Vaulters to compete in the internationa; arena, at the 1917 Far Eastern Championships.

It was Llanes, however, who reached the finals, medalling behind Tang Ichung (CHN) who cleared 3.15 m., followed by another Chinese, Kuo Chiaoyen, with 3.07 m. Llanes (PHI) did not even exceed the 3 m. mark, clearing only 2.99 m., but still enough for the Bronze. The dejected Alo, still a teen,  came home without a medal in his first Far East Games campaign.

He would come back with vengeance for the 1919 Far East Games in Manila, and this time, the young adult, now more confident and better-trained,  snatched the Gold, the first of 3 he would capture  in the most prestigious sporting event of Asia. In fact, 3 Filipinos ruled the Pole Vault finals led by Alo with a 3.31 m. leap—a new games record. Faustino Carlos and a certain Puno—both Filipinos finished 2-3, but their jumps went unrecorded

The 3 Filipinos would defend their titles at the 1921 Far East Games—with the beanpole Alo, again, smashing his own record with an incredible vault of 3.51 m. (.20 cm. better) . Carlos repeated his Silver finish, a a new rising vaulter, Carlos Nicolas, claimed the Bronze. In the same games, Alo was deployed to the Shot Put event as well—a throwing event, yet remarkably, he placed third (12. 55 m) , behind PH teammate Moises Lucas (12.72 m.) and Japanese winner Masasuke Nakamura (JPN), 12.83 m.

At the 1923 Far East Games in Japan, Alo suffered a temporary setback,  slipping to 2^nd place with a leap of (3.32 m.), same height as the Filipino third placer, Mala, who di 3.32 with more attempts. The winner, Japanese Yonetaro Nakazawa (JPN) made it to 3.40 m, good for Gold, leaving Alo’s best mark of 3.51 unscathed,        

His 5^th and last appearance in the Far East Games would come in Manila in 1925. And what a way to finish his sterling pole vaulting career. Four proud Filipinos claimed all the podium spots with Alo and the sensational Numeriano Tagavilla sharing the Gold with the same cleared height of 3.415 m. Sharing Silver were Carlos Mejillano and Miguel Sujeco (PHI) who managed  3.35 m.

 In all, Alo’s stash were 3 Golds, 1 Silver for Pole Vault, and 1 Bronze, for the unlikely sport of Shotput, making him the most successful vaulter ever at the regional games, pre-cursor of the Asian Games. Alo receded quietly from the limelight after that, and no more was heard of him.The champion pole vaulter, untouchable in his heyday, blazed trails in heightening the awareness for this sometimes lonely, tedious, and repetitive jumping sport until Ernest John Obiena proved that Filipinos, despite their short stature., could stand tall and compete with the best jumpers in the world.

SOURCES:

Passport Applications - Philippine Islands, Volume 24 (5350-5599)

Far East Championships, http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/fec.htm

“The pre-war star athletes of Cebu (Part I)”, CEBUPEDIA - Clarence Paul Oaminal - The Freeman , 9 Sep. 2016

Athletics at the 1921 Far Eastern Championship Games, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1921_Far_Eastern_Championship_Games

41. Titan of Throws: AURELIO AMANTE, Discus and Shot Put Record Breaker (active 1930-1954)

Throwing events in athletics—like discus, shot put, javelin and hammer throws—do not exactly command attention the way that the more popular foot races, relays and sprints do. But in the 1930s, whenever Bicolano AURELIO AMANTE steps on the field to throw the discus or put the shot, the bleacher crowd is hushed into silence, their attention riveted on the field as this hulk of man prepares to unleash his renown power in the discus throw.

Indeed, Aurelio “Liling” Amante, in his prime, was not only the top discus thrower of the country, but also of the Asian region, breaking records at these field events in both local and international meets. His formidable hurling strength led to sportswriters to give him the sobriquets,  “Strongman” , “Hercules” or “Big Boy” of Philippine sports.

A Star Disc-overy in Field Athletics

Born in 1912, Amante was exposed to sports early—not as an athlete, but as a member of a crew that organized inter-school and inter-provincial track and field tournaments. His assigned tasks included retrieving discus plates, shot put balls and javelins after every athlete’s throw. During the breaks or after the conclusion of the meets, Amante would often tinker with the discus, practicing how to hurl them. He was surprised to find he could throw them at great distances, and the teen soon developed a keen interest in the sport. He was largely self-taught, learning from books and sports manuals to improve his skills.

It was in one such meet in Masbate that Amante  caught the attention of national discus champion Fidel Mendoza while he was practicing his throws. He mentored him about the finer points of discus throwing, sharing the technical aspects of the throw, from his grip, to his turns, and timing of the release.

Amante would meet Mendoza again—this time as fellow competitors at the 1930 National Track and Field Meet in Manila. The seasoned veteran Mendoza, as expected, bagged the Gold—but trailing not too far behind was his 18 year old protégé, Aurelio Amante, who earned a Bronze medal finish.

Throwing His Weight Around at the Try-Outs

Amante continued to improve in the next few years and 1934 proved to be his busiest season yet—and also the most productive. At age 22, now in the collegiate ranks, he competed at the 1934 Interscholastic Meet in Bacolod, Negros Occidental—and reigned supreme in the Discus Throw by winning the Gold.

This instantly qualified him to join the Track and Field Preliminary Qualifying Meet held at the newly-built Rizal Memorial Stadium on 31 March 1934—which was the first level elimination round to determine the Philippine team to the 1934 Far Eastern Championship Games slated in May.

By this time, there were emerging strong student athletes like William “Bill” Ray, Mario Branzuela (both from U.P.)  and Delfin Danguilan (Army) who were to be Amante’s biggest rivals. In the Discus Throw where Amante was the defending champion, he suffered a surprise loss when Ray, who heaved the discus to 129 ft. 3 inches, beat him to second place, with Branzuela in 3^rd. 

Not one to ponder at his defeat in his pet event, Amante returned to the field in the afternoon for the Shot Put event. In one mighty throw, Amante put the shot at an incredible 43 feet 1 5/8 inches, breaking by 3 feet the national record of Toribio Bucoy which stood at 40 ft. 1 in. Branzuela also surpassed Bucoy’s record, with a distance of 40 ft. 11 inches for Silver, Bucoy got the Bronze, while Bill Ray—who also entered this event—was a distant 4^th.

News of Amante’s sensational record-breaking feat in the shot put made headlines as he considered himself more as a discus specialist. Amante proved this, without a doubt, at the final try-outs for the remaining athletes held in the afternoon of 28 April 1934. At the discus event, he threw the disc at an astounding distance of 138 ft 1 7/8 inches, breaking the current Asian record of 132 ft. 11 ¾ , established by Japan’s Masae Saito at the 1930 Tokyo Far East Games. This time, Bill Ray came in 2^nd and Branzuela 3^rd.

The  Farthest of the Far, 1934

With his victory, Amante became part of the 197-strong Philippine national team to lead the country’s golden quest at the 1934 Far East Games slated for 16-20 May, in Manila. Amante was chosen to carry the country’s colors during the opening of the Games at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Brimming with renewed energy and confidence, Amante came to the Rizal Memorial Stadium just a day after the Games opening as a hometown favorite for the discus crown title. The Japanese though, led by Kosaku Kikutoto and Kiyoharu Fujita,  were determined to keep their title. Throw after throw, their distances were measured and registered, and when their attempts had all been used up, it was Amante of the Philippines who was at the top of winners’ list.

He had reset his month-old record to a new distance of 139 feet and 7 ¼ inches (42.54 m.), an unbelievable improvement of about a foot and a half—and a new Far East Games record! The Japanese were left fighting for next two places, with Kikutoto claiming Silver (42. 21 m) and Fujita, the Bronze (40.35 m.). The hometown crowd went wild with Amante’s triumph, and for days, his win was the buzz of local newspapers long after the closing of the Manila Far East Games.

Having a Field Day Putting and Throwing, 1934-1938

With the major competitions done, Amante began focusing on the future. As a scholar at Jose Rizal College, he was able to pursue both his sports and schooling. One of the more memorable events he was invited to join was the two-day dual track and field meet between visiting American stars led by the world’s fastest human, Ralph Metcalfe, and the cream of Filipino athletes.

Held in the last week of October, 1934, Amante was pitted against the 22 year old “Stanford Giant” Gordon Dunn in the Shot Put. He was no match for the American who smashed the Philippine record of 12.65 meters thrice, with a heave of 15. 27 meters. Though Amante was good only for a 3^rd place with 12.36 meters to show, he had a good time thrilling the packed audience of 6,000 at the Rizal Stadium.

Now a national sports figure, Amante was honored to appear as a guest of the 1935 National  Interscholastic Championships where he led 400 young crack athletes in declaring the Amateur Oath at the Rizal Track and Football Stadium.

The next year, Amante saw action at the Shot Put event of the annual NCAA Track and Field Meet where he claimed the Gold, enabling Jose Rizal College to capture  the overall championship title against perennial rivals La Salle and Mapua. He continued this winning streak in the Discus when he represented the NCAA in the 1937 National Track and Field Meet held on February 13.

Two important events awaited the much heralded athlete in 1938: the Intercollegiate Track and Field Meet (Feb. 26-27), and the National Open Track and Field Meet where NCAA dominated the field events with his Gold medal finish in the Discus, and Bronze in the Shot Put.

Discus Star Dismissed by U.P., 1940-1948

As the 1940s decade began, the now 28 year old athlete found gainful employment at the University of the Philippines, and secured a state scholarship to further his Education studies. In May 1940 however, Amante tried out and qualified to join the East Asia Athletic Meet in Japan in July along with sprinter Nemesio de Guzman and hurdler Jose Ravelo. They were lucky enough to earn winners’ points from the Tokyo tournament.

Upon their return however, Amante and the 2 alums were barred from admission due to their excessive absences, a violation of the scholarship rules. Disappointed due to the university’s lack of consideration, De Guzman transferred to Ateneo, a private school, while Ravelo accepted a high school teaching job in Iloilo. Amante stuck it out in his UP job despite being denied enrollment. He was conspicuously absent from the 1941 UAAP Track and Field Meet held at the end of January.

Amante, however, was allowed to compete by U.P. a month later at the 1941 National Open Track & Field Championships that took place end of February.  Amante proved his worth by winning the Gold in his favorite Discus Throw, hurling it a distance of 40.93 meters, or some 135.30 feet. It would seem that Amante’s golden win  settled the scholastic issue once and for all, but a scant 10 months later, the war would defer his academic and sporting ambitions for a good number of years.

When the war ended in 1945, the much-damaged University of the Philippines relocated its buildings to Diliman beginning in 1948. Amante resumed his academic and athletic pursuits here at age 36.  After all, he was still the undisputed holder of the Philippine and UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines) records in the Discus Throw and Shot Put. And, in the 1948 National Field Meet, he still managed to win Silver Medals in the Discus and Shot Put (16 lbs.) events. He was entered in the same events at the 1948 UAAP Track and Field Meet where he beat out his younger rivals for the Gold in both the Discus and 16 lbs. Shot Put.

The Dean of the Discus: Asian Games and Beyond,  1951-1954

Three years later, now 39 years old, Amante was named to the Philippine national team that was sent to compete at the seminal Asian Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, from Mar. 8 to 11. He lost his title bid and settled for third place (38.14 m.) after India’s Makhan Singh (1^st, 39. 92 m. ) and Japan’s Norimi Sato (2^nd, 39.29 m.). Still, he was named by the Philippine Sportswriter’s Association as one of the Athletes of the Year in Field Events, for 1951-1952.

The second Asian Games in Manila staged in 1954 was to be Aurelio Amante’s last major international outing. In the finals, the 42 year old senior athlete finished a dismal 7^th in the Discus Throw, won by another Indian, Parduman Singh Brar, who likewise pocketed the Shot Put Gold. Thus ended his domination as the region’s best discus thrower.

Retiring from Athletics, he became an instructor of Physical Education at the Araneta Institute of Agriculture (now known as De La Salle Araneta University) until the 60s and while staying connected with the University of the Philippines, Press section. “Big Boy” Aurelio Amante, the Filipino titan of throws, the Hercules strongman, remained a lifelong bachelor, opting to devote most of his young, productive years to the sport that he loved best.

 SOURCES:

 “El record nacional de ‘shot put’ batido por Aurelio Amante”, Deportes, La Vanguardia, p. 7, 2 Apr. 1934

“Amante mejora el registro Oeriental en disco”, Deportes, La Vanguardia, p. 9, 30 Apr. 1934

“197 Atletas representaran a Filipinas en la olimpiada”, Deportes, La Vanguardia, p. 9, 4 May 1934

“Amante Takes Amateur Oath”, The Tribune, 15 Feb 1935, p. 11.

Photo: “Amante, Ray, Branzuela”, Presentando a nuestros atletas.

Photo: “Aurelio Amante”. La Vanguardia, p. 7, 17 May 1934

Photo: Aurelio Amante,“Record Breaker”, The Tribune, 28 Sep. 1934, p. 11

Photo: Aurelio Amante shot put”, Saturday Mirror Magazine, 2 Nov. 1957

Philippine Yearbook, 1951-1952, “Sports”

Graphic Magazine, 1934 Far East Games coverage

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.

**********

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