In honor of the many sportsmen that have competed in the name of our country, it is no wonder, therefore, that the Philippines has its own Sports Hall of Fame. Established in 1999 and managed by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), it is where amateur and professional Filipino athletes and coaches are accorded honors for their contribution to Philippine sports, particularly in the winning of medals and accolades from international competitions. Induction into the ranks of the Hall of Fame is an uncommon occasion; it has only been done thrice before. An upcoming fourth induction does have some big names in Pinoy sports. One of them is a “Living Legend.”

The Philippine Star reports that the Philippine Sports Commission is naming 10 new Filipino athletes to join the ranks of the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame. Among those worthies are football players, swimmers, boxers, a runner, a long jumper and a basketball icon who was The Man for 23 seasons of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). That is right: Robert Jaworski is now a Phil-Sports Hall of Famer, thanks to his helping win the gold at the 1967 (Seoul) and 1973 (Manila) FIBA Asia Cups, and the silver at the 1990 Asian Games (as coach).

Another sports luminary in this batch of incoming Hall of Famers is Elma Muros-Posadas, the country’s Long Jump Queen. She has been in all major overseas meets from the SEA Games (15 gold), the Asian Games (silver in 1990 and 1994) and even the Olympics (non-medalist). Her track and field contemporary Lydia de Vega was already inducted back in 2018. These two are joined by Eric Buhain and Gertrudes Lozada (swimmers), Dioniso Calvo (football/basketball), Paulino Alcantara (football), Arianne Cerdena (bowling), Rogelio Onofre (track), and boxers Roel Velasco and Leopoldo Serrantes.

Inductees to the Hall of Fame are also awarded P200,000 each. This would be welcome news for Serrantes, who has been confined in intensive care at the Philippine Veteran’s Hospital since this past January for heart ailments. He is now 58 years old. PSC chairman William Ramirez described the selection of this latest batch of inductees as a journey of discovery. Both he and Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino are pleased with the choices,

Image from Rappler