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

40. AMELITA ALANES: PH Olympian, Track Wonder of the 70s

AMELITA ALANES-SABERON earned 2 Asian Games Medals and was a
quarterfinalist in the 200 M. race at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

Dubbed as one of the “Track Wonders” of Southern Tagalog Athletic Association (STAA) in 1970s, AMELITA ALANES, reigned as the country’s premiere sprinter in the 1970s, winning in the Asian Championships, the Asian Games, and becoming a member of the national athletics team that competed at the tragedy-ridden Munich Olympics in 1972.

She was born in La Carlota, Negros Occidental on 28 Feb. 1952, the daughter of farmer parents. She had her start running barefoot in her hometown in 1966, because her parents could not afford the spiked shoes for sprinting. Yet, she often beat bigger opponents, She then progressed to inter-scholastic meets, where she established 3 junior records.

That was how the shoeless, but fleet-footed Alanes was spotted by Gov. Isidro Rodriguez and Southern Tagalog athletic officials. They offered to train her for inclusion in their much vaunted talent pool. The athletes from Southern Tagalog Athletic Association (STAA) were then considered powerhouse at the Bureau of Public Schools-Interscholastic Athletics Association Games (BPISAA)—which would later be renamed Palarong Pambansa in 1974.

On many occasions, STAA had captured the major championships of the BPISAA Games, lording over tough competition from Western Visayas and Mindanao. Southern Tagalog’s strengths lie in football, basketball and athletics. Alanes joined the Rizal’s women’s athletic team---and her baptism of fire in big league athletics began immediately.

Armed with just her 3 junior records and regional wins, the 18 year old was among the last to be chosen for the 1970 Asiad line-up.

She would come home with a Silver Medal in the 200 meter dash, the highest honor won in Bangkok, by the country’s track and field delegation. She recalls the moments leading to her magnificent win in the Asiad. She had raced in the 200 m. heats, placing second to the formidable Olympic medalist Chi Cheng of Chinese Taipei, who came in at 23.7 secs., a new Asian record, despite pulled muscles in both legs,

Later, it was announced that the frontrunner Chi Cheng was pulling out of the 200 meter finals due to her injury. At the Supachalasai Stadium, she remembers thinking “May pag-asa na rin kahit konti”, as she set her feet on the starting blocks. As the gun sounded, Alanes burst into action and sped off, hands flailing, and reaching the finish bunched up with other runners.

She was uncertain if she had done enough. But when the electronic scoreboard flashed the results, Alanes saw her name in 2^nd place, clocking 25.2 secs. behind Keiko Yamada of Japan  (25 secs.), with Indonesia’s Carolina Rieuwpassa coming in 3^rd (25.4 secs.). She remembers sobbing on the shoulders of her coach and being swamped by her fellow runners.

The Philippine performance at the Bangkok Games turned out to be one of the poorest for the country, with Ricardo Fortaleza’s lone boxing gold. The track delegation could only contribute 3 Bronzes and 1 Silver—courtesy of Alanes, who saved the day for the Philippines. Moving forward upon her return, Alanes resumed her training with her team mates to prepare for the biggest competition in her life—this time, at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

The 1972 BPISAA Games in Vigan held for a week starting on April 11, served as a tryout to the Olympics scheduled later in the year in August. Once more, the Southern Tagalog Athletic Association came ready, armed with its finest athletes, among them,  the Rizal  women’s athletic team. The quartet of track wonders included Lucila Salao, Aida Mantawel, Rosalinda Yumol, and the Asian Games medalist Amelita Alanes. Alanes, with the best credentials, did not disappoint.

Alanes competed in 3 individual events: 100 m., 200 m. and 400 m. She won them all, earning 3 Golds and cementing her reputation as the country’s top sprinter. Together with Salao, Mantawel and Yumol, they won berths in the Philippine National Team that were sent to Munich in August for the 20th Olympic competitions.

The infamous Munich Summer Games were held from Aug. 26 to Sep. 12.  Alanes was entered in her favorite events: the 100 and 200 meter dash, and the team event, 4 x 100 m. relay with Salao, Mantawel and Yumol. In her century dash heat, she ran alongside the East German amazon, Renate Stecher. Alanes made a quick exit, timing in at inexplicably at slow 12.37 secs. As expected Stecher topped that heat and advanced all the way to the Finals to win the Gold with a world record time of 11.06 seconds.

Alanes fared better in the 200 meters, timing in at 24.98 secs. in 7^th place, which was good enough to put her into the Quarterfinal rounds. She was eliminated in Round 1, clocking in at 25.28, and thus did not  advance to the semifinals. Stecher, again, won the 200 m. finals Gold in convincing fashion, with an amazing 22.1 secs. clocking. Alanes also lucked out in the 4 x100 m. relay race, as the team was disqualified in the 1^st heat.

 When Alanes returned to the Philippines, she set her sights on the inaugural 1973 Asian Athletics Championships in Manila. There, at the Rodriguez Sports Center in Marikina, the track wonder won the Gold with an 11.6 seconds in the 100m. ahead of 2 Japanese Michiko Morita and Sayo Yamato who clocked identical 12 secs. 

In 1978, the now married Amelita Alanes-Saberon competed in her last Asian Games, also in Bangkok, Thailand. The 8^th edition of these games, held from Dec. 14-19, were controversial because they were not sanctioned by the International Amateur Athletics Federation due to the exclusion of Israel by the organizers. The Philippines had a dismal showing in Bangkok, with no gold medal to show. Still, Alanes, who was entered in the 4 x 100 M. Relay along with Lucila Tolentino-Salao, Rosalinda Yumol and Lydia Silva-Netto salvaged the Bronze in 47 seconds flat, behind Thailand (Gold, 46.20 secs.) and Japan (Silver, 46. 78 secs.).

Alanes-Saberon registered her personal best of 11.4 seconds for the 100 meter dash in 1974. It stood as a National Record for 13 long years before Lydia de Vega broke it at the 1987 Southeast Asian Games, with a time of 11.28 secs.  

SOURCES

Olympic database, Amelita Alanes, https://www.olympiandatabase.com/index.php?id=53690&L=1

The Filipino Athlete, The Munich Olympics, Oct. 1972

28. 1928 Olympic Sprinter ANSELMO P. GONZAGA: The Cainta Flash (active 1927-1934)

In the 1920s, with the athletic programs introduced by the U.S. in the school curriculum in full blast, scores of fine Filipino sprinters were discovered and trained to become national athletes who found fame in meets, here and abroad. Old sports fans still recall names such as Fortunato Catalon, Juan Taduran, Pedro Yatar, German Candari, and David Nepomuceno. But one name stands out for making waves in the world athletics scene despite a short career: ANSELMO P. GONZAGA, popularly referred to as Cainta’s Speed Marvel or the Cainta Flash.

Although he was a celebrate athlete in his time and had a long career, there are scanty accounts of Gonzaga’s early life. He was born on 21 April 1906, the son of Andres Gonzaga and Juana Pineda. He had at least one known sibling, Rosa Gonzaga. The Gonzagas were from Cainta, Rizal, where many of the natives have dark complexions due to its large Indian populace that intermarried with the locals. Anselmo, himself, was swarthy-skinned, but this may also be a result of his outdoor training runs.

How he came to be a student of Silliman University in Dumaguete is not known, but it was here that the Gonzaga’s reputation as an outstanding runner was first heard of. The Far East Games Championships was already an established Asian regional event by the 1920s, with active participation from sports clubs and varsity school teams from all over the country.

Visayan schools regularly sent their best athletes to the Carnival fair athletic tournaments which were used as qualifying tryouts for the Far East Games . The collegian Gonzaga made news when he set a new Philippine record of 10.5 seconds, a time that was the 4^th best in the world in 1927.

 Gonzaga’s next stop was Shanghai, for the 1927 Far East Games, where he was entered in the sprint events and the relay. The 100 m. was captured by team mate Olympian David Nepomuceno, but Gonzaga came back strong in the 200 m. straight race, with a time of 22.3 secs., relegating Nepomuceno in 3^rd place, and Japanese Takayoshi Yoshioka in 2^nd. In the 4 x 200 Relay, the Philippine quartet that included Gonzaga, won over Japan with a time of 1:31.20 secs.

1928 would bring to Gonzaga, his most exciting and memorable games yet in his career, for he not only qualified for the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, but was also selected to be the flag bearer of the 8-man Philippine delegation (4 athletes, 4 officials) during the parade of nations held in the Netherlands. Entered in the 100 m. and 200 m. events, Gonzaga struggled to find his form that made him the Philippines’ top sprinter.

The international runners were grouped to run in 16 heats;  the 2 fastest would then advance to the quarterfinals. Gonzaga was in Heat #16, where he placed a strong second to Bob McAllister. Gonzaga moved on to the 6 Quarterfinal series, each with 5 or 6 qualifiers. This time, he could only finish 4^th of 5 runners,  that was topped by American Frank C. Wykoff who clocked 10 and 4/5 or 10.8 secs. Gonzaga was thus eliminated. The 100 m. gold eventually went to Percy Williams of Canada with a time of 10.8 secs. (Gonzaga’s best was 10.5 secs.).

In the 200 meter race, Gonzaga ran in the 5^th of 15 qualifying heats. He placed 3^rd with a time of 22.7 secs, behind the American champion Charlie Paddock and Mario Gomez, thus did not advance to the next round. Canada’s Percy Williams completed a golden double by winning the 200 m. finals, with 21.8 secs. (Note: In 1980, at age 92, Williams committed suicide by shooting himself.)

Gonzaga returned home inspire by his valuable Olympic experience—he forged on to do even better. In February of 1929, he and his college mates from Silliman (Carlos Raymond, Manuel Astida, and a certain Mamerto), shattered the Philippine mile relay record. The next year, he ran in a demonstration race against visiting German world record middle-distance runner, Dr. Otto Peltzer. In the run-up to the 1930 Far Eastern Games, he set a personal best during the national open of 21.5 secs. for the 200 m. run.

As always, he was fielded in the 100 m. and 200 m. sprints when the games unfolded in Tokyo. In his favorite 100 m., he was outran by Japan’s ace runner, Takayoshi Yoshioka, whom he had beaten in the longer 200 m. race 3 years ago. As if that was no fluke, Yoshioka also won the 200 m. race, leaving Gonzaga with a Silver medal. As a consolation, Gonzaga would win 2 more Silvers in the Team events—the 4 x 200 m. relay (with German Candari, David Nepomuceno, Constantino Alhambra) and the 4 x 400 relay (with Candari, Miguel White, Alhambra).

In the years following the Far East Games, Gonzaga was said to have won his last double title in the sprint at the national championships in 1932. In early1934, he was expected to make a comeback at the National Open Track and Field Meet, as newspapers reported he was doing well in his favorite 100 m. event.

Indeed, in  March 1934 , Gonzaga was listed among 77 athletes quartered in La Salle College for the open tryouts that will determine the members of the Philippine team to compete in the Far East Games to be held in Manila. Though he made the trials, he made a poor showing at the tune-up games conducted at the Rizal Memorial Field on April 28.

Picked to shine in the century dash, the Cainta Flash disappointed the fans by finishing fifth in the tevent, soundly beaten by Rafael de Leon. He only placed third in the 200-meter dash. The results of the test events proved to be ominous, as when the 1934 Far East Games went underway, Gonzaga was unplaced in all his events.  The Philippines romped off with the overall championship, a fitting finale to the last of the fabled “Oriental Olympics”.

The veteran Gonzaga retired at age 28, but would return to the track every now and then as a sports official, referee or field event judge. He was, by then married to Aquilina Buenviaje, and in 1936, had a son, Jaime.

The cancellation of the 1938 Far East Olympics schedule in Japan was a portent of a coming global war. Suddenly, the friendly sporting rivalry between Japan and the Philippines, a U.S. ally, escalated into an armed conflict that spread to the Far East. When Japan invaded the Philippines, a guerilla movement--Hunter’s ROTC—was formed in 1942, and Anselmo Gonzaga became an officer of the Cainta chapter. To this day, he is honored as one of those credited in the liberation of Cainta.

Nothing more was heard about him in the next 4 decades, but U.S. immigration records show that he and his family migrated to the U.S. on 9 Oct. 1985, and settled in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was already 79 years old at that time. That was the last we heard of the great Cainta Flash, who, for one brief shining moment, animated the world of Philippine sports.

 SOURCES:

Photo, 1934 FEG Athletics team: The Tribune, 9 May 1934,

Official Olympic Report Program, 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, LA 84 Digital Collection

Various Tribune issues:  Jan, 24, 1934, p. 7; 24 March 1934; 29 April 1934, page 26

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

 familysearch.org, U.S. Migration, United States Index to Alien Case Files, 1940-2003, Anselmo Gonzaga : https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FY4-FQB5

Ancelmo P. Gonzaga, mentioned in the Record of Jaime B. Gonzaga (Ancelmo P. Gonzaga's Son)Vital, Philippines Marriages, 1723-1957: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HBV8-676Z

Ika-78 Anibersaryo ng Cainta Liberation,uploaded by Atty. And Mayor  Elen Nieto: https://www.facebook.com/elen.nieto.7/videos/867441764513397/

27. Her Race is Run: IRENE PENUELA, Relay Specialist, Silver Medalist, 1958 Tokyo Asiad

Nearly forgotten, the name IRENE PENUELA came to fore when her daughter, Lyn Majaducon sounded a call for financial help for her mother who was battling ovarian cancer. It turns out Irene Penuela was a former national athlete, who, at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, chased sporting glory—and won the Team Silver Medal in the 4 x 100 M. Women’s Relay.Together with her team mates, top sprinter Inocencia Solis, Rogelia Ferrer and Francisca Sanopal, the Philippine team placed 2^nd to the hometown Japanese quartet, a no mean feat in the region’s biggest, and most highly-competitive sporting event.

As is the case with veteran athletes past their prime, Penuela’s story is the same: after bringing pride to the country, they are left in oblivion, neglected and forgotten. Professional athletes in massively popular sports, like basketball and boxing,  have better chances of parlaying their fame to something more lucrative. On the other hand, amateur athletes from less-funded sports like sprinter Penuela, sadly have little or no support.

Which is why, when Penuela’s Asian Games achievement came to people’s attention via that appeal that came with a photo of her running in that historic relay, the memory of that long-ago victory rallied grateful sports groups and personalities to help the now-old and bedridden athlete.

Irene Penuela was born on 6 April 1938, to parents Jesus Penuela and Alicia Esporton originally from Jaro, Iloilo. Small, slim and standing at only 5'2", the young Irene took to running in her elementary school years where she often represented her school in meets. It was in her high school years at Dumangas High School (formerly Iloilo High School), that Penuela took running seriously. Her teachers knew they had a talent in their hands so she was always fielded in regional events, winning sprints at the West Visayas Athletic Association (WVAA)  Meets.

Penuela qualified as a member of the WVAA team that went to the premiere Bureau of Public Schools Interscholastic Athletic Association (BPSIAA) Meet,  a predecessor of today’s Palarong Pambansa organized back in 1948. It was held in Tagbilaran, Bohol, from Feb. 1 to Mar. 1, 1958. The scrawny teen served notice of her presence when she reached the finals of all her events:  3^rd in the 100 m. dash behind the East Visayan Concordia Avenosa, 4^th in both the 200 m. dash and 1^st in the 4 x 100 m. relay, turning the tables on their East Visayan opponents.

Penuela’s podium wins opened wide the doors of the 1958 National Open Track and Field Championships held just a week later, a prelude to the 1958 Tokyo Asiad. Now representing the Bureau of Public Schools (BPS), Penuela was entered in the 200 m. dash. 

Among the finalists was the national record holder Inocencia Solis, 6 years her senior, and Negros Occidental hurdler/sprinter Rogelia Ferrer, a ’54 Asian Games medalist. Unfazed, Penuela took her place in the cinder tracks and bolted from the blocks at the sound of the gun. When Penuela crossed the finish line, she was shocked to learn that she had placed third behind Solis and Ferrer, with a remarkable time of 26.6 secs., just 0.1 sec. from Ferrer, and 0.2 sec. from Solis.

When the composition of the 4 x 100 m. relay women’s team for the 1958 Tokyo Asiad was announced, Penuela was even more aghast when she saw her name included along with Inocencia Solis, Rogelia Ferrer, and Francisca Sanopal. Sports pundits were expecting either Visitacion Badana or Lucrecia Casorla to complete the quartet as they had been in the 4 x 100 relay team with Solis and Sanopal that smashed the 50 sec. barrier in the 1957 National Open with a new Philippine record time of 49.6 seconds.

But starting 1957, Visitacion Badana was peaking as the country’s best women jumper, the only one to break a national record in that years’ National Intercollegiate Track and Field Championship. Officials may have decided to keep her for the event where she excels best (Indeed, she would score the 1^st gold in the Running Broad Jump at the Tokyo Asiad). In the case of Casorla, she was more of a hurdler, but Sanopal and Manolita Cinco were already the dominant performers in that field.

Thus, all thing considered, officials put their bets on Penuela. It’s true that she never placed first in her events, but her runner-up clockings were just a few ticks away from the winners’ times. Who knows, the idea of running in an international event could even fire this promising athlete to go beyond her limits and win! On the 3^rd week of May, Irene Penuela arrived in Tokyo, Japan to run the biggest race of her life at the Third Asian Games.

In the finals of the 4 x 100 m. relay held at the National Stadium on 29 May, 11:30 a.m, the Indian runners returned to defend their title won in Manila 4 years before. The Japanese squad, however, were the crowd favorite to win the race. The Philippine girls were not ruled out either, as Solis had claimed the Gold in the century dash earlier, installing herself as Asia’s fastest woman.

The plan was for barely-rested Solis to be the lead-off runner, and followed by the Rogelia Ferrer. Penuela, the team’s youngest runner was sandwiched between the more experienced Ferrer and Francisca Sanopal, the hurdler-sprinter known for her strong finishing kick. Running second, Ferrer passed the baton to Penuela who ran the 3^rd leg against the formidable Ikuko Yoda, a future 1964 Olympian hurdler. She held her own as well against the fast-catching Indians, remaining  in 2^nd place as she handed the baton to Sanopal.

The Japanese sprinters (Sakura Fukuyama, Yoshie Fujii, Ikuko Yoda, Yuko Kobayashi) retained their slim lead until the finish to win Gold (48.6 secs. a new Games record), with the fighting Filipinas bagging Silver (49.0 secs. flat, a new PH record, Solis, Ferrer, Penuela, Sanopal), thus bettering their 3^rd place position in the last Manila Asiad. The dethroned Indians ( Christine Brown, Violet Peters, Stephie D'Souza,Mary Leela Rao) were pushed into 3^rd place (49.4 secs.).

To Penuela, the Silver around her neck as she stood on the podium, glittered like Gold—for the 4 x100 m. relay was her one and only event, in her first and only international outing; it was, the biggest win of her running career. In Athletics, the Philippine team hauled 11 medals, 3 of which were Gold, 4 Silvers and 4 Bronzes. Of the 3 Golds, two were won by women athletes. The total medal harvest in Athletics put the Philippines in 3rd place behind Japan and Pakistan.

Japan was a good experience for her, for the new culture she was introduced to, for the sportsmanships fostered, and international friendships she forged with athletes from around Asia. 

Penuela returned to the Philippines to resume her life as a student athlete. She finished her Physical Education course at the Central Philippine University, in Iloilo. She continued her medal-winning ways collecting 11 Gold, 9 Silvers, and 9 Bronzes in post-Asiad meets in the Philippines. Her athletic career lasted only for 9 years, a short but fruitful one.

After 1958, she was married in civil ceremonies to Franquilino Majaducon of Jaro. By 1960, the growing Majaducon family would move to General Santos City, in brgy. Apopong, where she would remain for the rest of her life. They would have 6 children:  Erlien (a special child), Franklin, Gilbert, Elleen, Aileen and Arlien.  The 2 youngest daughters also became outstanding athletes in athletics and swimming.

As a new wave of stronger, faster runners emerged led by the Mona Sulaiman, Penuela went into coaching, mentoring pools of athletes for various national competitions and championships. She made history again in 2005 when she became the oldest female marathon finisher of that year’s Milo Marathon, at the age of 67.

In 2022, Penuela was stricken with ovarian cancer, and her grateful adoptive city of Gensan, accorded her not only financial assistance but also recognized her significant achievements that elevated Philippine sports and gave pride and honor to her country.

Two years after, she took a turn for the worse, which prompted her daughter Lyn to make an appeal for help in settling her medical bills. The response from the sports community was overwhelming, but, sadly it came a bit late for the ailing Irene. On 9 July 2024, Irene Penuela died peacefully, surrounded by her loved ones. There is no greater glory than running her final race, a journey to immortality.  

SOURCES:

1958 3^RD Asian Games, Tokyo, Japan Official Report

Athletics at the 1958 Asian Games, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1958_Asian_Games

 1958 Asian Games, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Asian_Games

 The Filipino Athlete, Official publication of the Phil. Amateur Athletic Federation (P.A.A.F) 1957-1958 issues.

 “PH Asiad medalist passes away, family asks for burial assistance”, by Randy Caluag, The Manila Standard, 9 July 2024.

 “Former Asian Games Silver Medalist’s Daughter in dire need of financial aid for mother’s burial and funeral service “, posted on Reboot TV Official  FB Page, 12 July 2024.

 Telephone interview with Lyn P. Majaducon, daughter of Irene Penuela, 29 Apr. 2025.

26. Asia’s Amazon of Speed: MONA SULAIMAN, active 1957-1966

The greatest Filipina track athlete of the 60s decade was, without doubt, MONA SULAIMAN (b. 9 Jun. 1942/ d. 21 December 2017) came into the track scene beginning in 1957, when the stocky 15 year old ran barefooted in several races during a Cotabato fiesta and wiped out competition. Sulaiman, daughter of policeman Kudelat and Aminan Sulaiman, had actually played softball in her elementary school where her running ability was spotted by a school official. Sulaiman, who was described in write ups as “the pride of the fierce Mangulamas tribe of Cotabato”, was hustled off to regional meets in Mindanao and the Visayas, and won those too.

Doubting Thomases were quick to dismiss her wins lightly, but in the national championships of 1960, she was pitted against the renown Inocencia Solis, the reigning 1958 Asian Games gold medalist—and trounced the veteran trackster. Not even Solis’ much ballyhooed, nationally-ranked Cebu Tech team mates, could come close to Sulaiman’s clockings.

Sports critics and observers were silenced, and they soon acknowledged that the sheer  power and brawn of  Sulaiman was superior than the smooth, running style of Solis. Another undeniable edge was Sulaiman’s versatility—she also excels in the throwing events  --shotput (Personal Best 41.2 ft.) , discus ( PB 115 ft. 5 and 5/8 in.), javelin and in the multisport pentathlon.

Sulaiman was soon installed as the new queen of sprints, and her next stop was no less than the 1960 Rome Olympics. That experience was an eye-opener for the 18 year old, and the thought of competing against the world’s best must have unnerved her. Though her performance was reported as “dismal” by the local press, she did fairly well, reaching the 100 meter dash quarterfinals and finishing in 6^th place with a time of 12.4 seconds. Her heat was ruled by the great American Wilma Rudolph, who would go on to win Gold in record time. In the 200 m., Sulaiman timed in at 25.8 secs., 4^th in her heat, won by Poland’s Barbara Janiszewska, who would win Bronze in the 4x100 m. relay.

Returning home, Sulaiman worked on improving her form and technique, and her dedicated efforts rewarded in 1961 when she bannered the Philippine campaign at the Malayan Open in April. She won 4 Gold medals for the 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash (a new Malayan record), 4 x 100 m. women’s relay, and the Shotput (another new record), helping propel the Philippines team to 2^nd place overall. That same year, she had also annexed a new Philippine record in Javelin throw.

Coming into the 4th Asian Games in Jakarta in August 1962, Sulaiman looked formidable with her personal best times. She lived up to expectations by ruling the two centerpiece sprint events, registering a new games record of 11.93 secs. for the Gold in the century dash, way ahead of 2 Japanese, Ikuko Yoda (Silver, 12.35 secs.) and  Takuko Inokuchi (Bronze, 12.39 secs.). It was the same story in the 200 meters as Sulaiman prevailed with 24.63 secs. followed by Japan’s Haruko Yamazaki (25.86 secs.) and Ceylon’s Nirmala Dissanayake (secs. 25.92 secs.). 

She grabbed her 3^rd Gold when she teamed up with veteran Inocencia Solis, Francisca Sanopal and Aida Molinos to an upset win over the Japanese team that registered the same games record of 48.67 secs. But Sulaiman was not finish with her medal romp as she had to rush to the field event where she was also entered in the shotput. She won the Bronze with a throw of 11.97 meters.

1962 will be remembered as the peak of Sulaiman’s sporting career. She was the first Filipina to complete a rare golden sprint double at the Asiad. With her spectacular triple victories on the track and a medal at the field events, Mona Sulaiman became the most bemedalled Filipino athlete of the delegation, winning 4 of the total 7 Golds harvested from Jakarta. She was hailed as a local heroine upon her return home and everyone predicted more success in her future.

In April 1964, in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics, she was sent to the U.S. to undergo scientific training under coach Bill Bowerman of the University of Oregon. By July,  Sulaiman reported a notable improvement in her athletic prowess, She even managed to shave off .2 secs. from her 11.8 secs. record, lowering it to 11.6 secs., leading local officials to believe that she could be a potential winner of the pentathlon.

This was seconded by 2-time (1948, 1952) Olympic decathlon champion Bob Mathias, who, after sizing her up in Manila, concluded, “She can run, throw weights, and jump too. There is not one girl athlete in the world who could be as good as Mona in all these events.”

But by the time the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo unfolded, Sulaiman stuck to her pet events—100 m., 200 m. sprints, and the 4 x100 m. women’s relay. Her 2^nd Olympic stint was to  be another major disappointment. In her 100m. heat, she placed 7th and last, with a slow time of 12 seconds flat. In the 200 m., she placed 4^th in her heat, at  25.4 seconds. She anchored her team in the 4x 100 m. relay race, and finished second slowest at 48.8 secs. Thus ended Sulaiman’s Olympic campaign in Japan. 

Only 22 years old, Sulaiman continue to train, ready to redeem her poor performance by defending her titles in the 1966 Asian Games, slated in Thailand.  Sulaiman, as expected, was named as a member of the Philippine team. That year though, the organizers introduced the controversial gender testing among athletes. 

Sulaiman rejected the said test, claiming at first it was against her Muslim faith. But for the record, Sulaiman said she was suffering from flu at that time, so she decided to forego with the medical check-up though she was already in Bangkok.

Sulaiman’s refusal spawned many speculations about her real gender, which media played up back in the Philippines. Hurt and humiliated from being barred from the games, she withdrew from the sports and lost interest, thus putting an end to an illustrious athletic career that could have been longer.

MONA AT THE MOVIES, Courtesy of Video 48

She worked in the private sector and even ventured into film as a bit player. She did at least 3 action movies: Santa Fe (1973), Virgina Soliman (1974), and Interpol Malaysia 5 (1975), all with actor Jun Aristorenas. In 1990s, she was given employment by the Philippine Sports Commission as a consultant for the national athletics team. The PSC her inducted into its Hall of Fame in January 2016. Marvelous Mona Sulaiman, Asia’s first lady of speed, passed away on 21 Dec. 2017 at the East Avenue Medical Center after a lingering illness, at age 75.

SOURCES:

“First Lady of Speed”, Sunday Times Magazine, 25 March 1961, pp. 36-37

“Filipino Speedsters in Malaya”, Mirror Magazine, 26 Aug. 1961, p 26

“Asian Games Hopeful”, Sunday Times Magazine, 5 Aug. 1962

1964 Tokyo Olympics supplement, Sunday Times Magazine, p. 15

“Marvelous Mona”, Sunday Times Maazine, 19 Sep. 1964,

Official Report of the 1960 Olympics (Rome) program, LA84 Digital Collection

Official Report of the 1964 Olympics (Tokyo) program, LA84 Digital Collection

Mona Sulaiman, Asia’s fastest woman of early ’60s, dies at 75, Dec 22, 2017 12:13,

https://www.rappler.com/sports/191974-mona-sulaiman-obituary-track/

Philippines at the 1962 Asian Games, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines_at_the_1962_Asian_Games

Athletics at the 1962 Asian Games,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1962_Asian_Games

Mona Sulaiman movies: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4705025/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Movie posters of Santa Fe, Interpol Malyasia 5, courtesy of Video 48

Mona Sulaiman, Wikipedia.com

18. Asia’s Fastest Woman of 1958: INOCENCIA SOLIS

She was just 5 feet 2 inches on her bare toes, but on the cinder track, INOCENCIA S, SOLIS stood taller, stronger, faster on her feet. Throughout the postwar years, she was a stand-out track star, specializing in the sprints, relays, and even broad jump. In all her Philippine representations in 3 consecutive Asiads, she came home with medals in all 3 colors. So formidable was she, that her records endured for years,  taking over a decade for emerging athletes to break her sprint clockings.

Born on Holy Innocents Day (28 Dec. 1932) to Victorio Solis and Leonarda Silomenio, Inocencia grew up with a farming family that valued hard work. She was a product of local schools—New Lucena Elementary School and Santa Barbara High School—where she was exposed to athletics, while dreaming of becoming a teacher someday.

At the 1950 National Inter-Scholastic Athletic Association Meet (NISSA), Solis, coached by Apolonio Japitana, came home with 3 Golds in record times in the 100 m., 200 m. dash, and the running broad jump event. The 18 year old teener’s rise to athletic prominence had just begun.

Cebu Institute of Technology, which has a powerhouse roster of nationally-ranked student athletes, took an interest on Solis and offered her a college scholarship. She  accepted and began her Elementary Education course, while she began her athletic training under new coach Fructuosa Soriano.

In the next few years, Solis began stamping her class in elite athletic meets like the PRISAA Meet and the National Open in 1953. She proved her worth when she qualified to be part of the national team for the second Asian Games to be held in the Manila capital, Philippines from May 2-5, 1954.

She served notice of her potential when she became one of only two female Filipina athletes to win a medal for an individual event, scoring a Bronze in the 200 m. dash (26.5 sec., new PH record)) after 2 Japanese (Midori Tanaka and Atsuko Nambu, Gold and Silver respectively). (Incidentally the other Filipina individual Bronze winner was her Cebu schoolmate, Vivencia Subido in Javelin). Solis also earned a Team Bronze with Rogelia Ferrer, Manolita Cinco and Roberta Anore (50.4 secs.)

Solis continued to make news in the local athletics scene with the holding of the National Open Championship in athletics in 1957. There, as a top member of the crack  CIT team, she swept competition away in the sprints, winning Gold in the 100 and 200 m. dashes, with clockings of 12.4 and 27 secs. flat, respectively. Then, she teamed up with Visitacion Badana, Lucrecia Casorla and Francica Sañopal to win the 4x100 m. relay race in a new record of 49.6 seconds---the first time that Filipinas broke the 50 sec. barrier for that event, and of only 2 track events broken in the meet. 

As a tune-up to the Asian Games of 1958, Solis bannered the CIT team at the 1958 National Open Track & Field Championship held at the Rizal track-and-football stadium in Manila. The event was spiced by the presence of international entries like Nationalist China, Clark Air Force Base, the Fifth Air Force, and Tachikawa Air Base. Solis swept the 100 m. and 200 m. sprints, and snagged a Bronze in the 4 x 100 m. relay with teammamtes Visitacion Badana, Lucrecia Casorla , and Francisca Sanopal. 

Fresh from her triumphs at the National Open, Solis went to the 3rd edition of the Asian Games in Tokyo brimming with extra-confidence, and it was there that she shone the brightest.At the finals of the 100 m at the National Stadium, Solis was unheralded, based on her poor showing in the qualifying heats. All eyes were on Sakura Fukuyama and Yuko Kobayashi of Japan, But she stunned the crowd when she hurtled off the blocks and crossed the finish line first—in 12.5 seconds, a new Games Record, relegating the 2 Japanese to 2^nd and 3^rd.

Thus was Solis crowned Asia’s fastest in 1958. As a bonus, the quartet of Solis, Rogelia Ferrer, Irene Penuela and Francisca Sanopal nabbed the Silver in the 4 x100 m. relay. The Philippine Sportswriters Association acclaimed her as 1958 Athlete of the Year.

Solis would return to her last Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia on August 1962. By then, she was 30 years old, and had given way to an emerging track star, the 19 year-old Mona Sulaiman. The veteran Solis teamed up with Aida Molinos, Francisca Sanopal, and Sulaiman to rule the 4 x 100 m. relay—contributing a precious Gold to the Philippines’ medal harvest.

A little over a week after the Games, Solis, representing the Bureau of Public Schools Interscholastic Athletics Association (BPSIAA), established a new Philippine record in running Broad Jump at the National Open Championships on 12 March 1954, with a distance of 5.209 meters (17 ft. 1 1/8 inches)

She was also a dominant force in the tour of Formosa after the Asian Games, where she won 5 sprints and took 2 gold medals in the broad jump, a fitting punctuation to her incredible athletic journey.

Solis pursued a teaching and coaching career in Cebu in the late 50s, then moved to Manila in the 60s to work with the city government of Caloocan. She helped coach the women's athletic team to the 1970 Asiad in Bangkok. Nothing much was known about Inocencia Solis after that, but in 1998, her names surfaced when she was awarded by Pres. Fidel V. Ramos  the 1998 Distinguished Filipino Woman Achiever in Sports Philippine Centennial Celebration.

On 4 November 2001, Solis passed away at the Iloilo Mission Hospital due to diabetes complications. She was 69 years old. In 2016, she was accorded the ultimate honor of being inducted to the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

SOURCES:

1955 PROGRESS Magazine Supplement

Athletics at the 1954 Asian Games, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1954_Asian_Games

Athletics at the 1958 Asian Games, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1958_Asian_Games

“Solis, former Asiad sprint queen, dies”, by Nerio C. Lujan, The Philippine Star, https://www.philstar.com/sports/2001/12/13/143437/solis-former-asiad-sprint-queen-dies