MAYBE it’s not immodest for me to say so, but I just don’t think there will be another incredible period of records, drama and personalities than the joyous, golden moment of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games here in Manila.
It was the Philippines’s crowning achievement in the biennial meet, winning an unprecedented 113 gold medals, its largest haul in 28 years, to capture the overall championship—26 gold medals ahead of runner-up Thailand.
Heroes and heroines, champions and record-breakers burst upon the scene like exploding star shells, as the nation basked in the glory of our athletes’ inspired showing that was pure bedlam in various competition venues.
It was an accomplishment of a lifetime that was never duplicated in the country’s roller-coaster ride in the regional meet—although in 1991, when Manila also hosted the Games, it was another good time for rejoicing.
Who can forget the avalanche of 12 golds in the Chinese sport of wushu, nine golds each in athletics and aquatics, eight golds each in billiards and boxing, and six golds each in traditional boat race and the Korean sport of taekwondo?
But it was the US-based swimmer Miguel Molina who stole the limelight with his awesome victories in the 200-meter backstroke and the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medleys, a feat equaled by the graceful diver Sheila Mae Perez.
Although it was a runner-up finish in 1991, but who can also forget Eric Buhain, who cleaved the pool like a trawl to net six golds? And Akiko Thomson, whose gorgeous body was any director’s fancy, ruling the backstroke with grace?
Then a new mother, Lydia de Vega, Asia’s fastest woman, easily clinched the most prestigious gold in the century in one of the more memorable of the many historical gems she has scattered across the region over the years.
Still, the 2005 batch was made up of an astounding plethora of men and women who performed the greatest prodigies ever before the home crowd, touching off a euphoria that choked our throats and brought tears to our eyes.
The spontaneous rejoicing in the streets and at competition venues scattered across the country was as matchless and wonderful a triumph of courage and the indomitable will of the rampaging Filipino athletes.
Every event, it seemed, produced champions or runners-up for the Philippine team in the 11-nation sports conclave where we bagged a total record aggregate of 291 medals, including 84 silvers and 94 bronzes.
Wushu had a galaxy of talents with Pedro Quina, Arvin Ting, Willy Wang, Rene Catalan, Edward Folayang, Lester Pimentel and Richard Ng in the men’s division; and Vicky Ting, Aida Yang and Rhea May Rifani in the distaff side.
De Vega retired in 1993, while long-jump queen Elma Muros followed suit six years later, but the latter’s heir Marestela Torres, long-distance ace Mercedita Manipol and marathoner Christabel Martes ably took over from where they left off.
Arniel Ferrera and Danilo Fesnido also picked golds in hammer and javelin throws, respectively. The other gold medalists were Jimar Ang (400 meters), Rene Herrera (steeplechase), Henry Dagmit (long jump) and the 4×400-meter squad.
Our women boxers were not only everything nice, but were full of courage and tenacity. Alice Kate Aparri, Annie Albania, Jouvilet Chilem, Mitchel Martinez and Joan Tipon displayed great truculence and extraordinary hitting powers.
For all their occasional beauty, our women bets played with complete abandon and exposure. Rubilen Amit, pretty, smart and scented, was the role model in her eight-ball doubles partnership with Antonio Gabica in billiards.
Absent the legendary Efren “Bata” Reyes, our cue artists were like a flotilla of pool sharks annihilating the enemy. Gabica, Alex Pagulayan, Dennis Orcollo, Renato Alcano, Leonardo Andam and Amit swept all the golds.
Possibly, it was the official song, “Posible,” sang by local band Rivermaya, and “Pinoy Ako,” a haunting rendition by Orange and Lemon, which later became a smash hit, that many believed inspired our national athletes no end.
Those were, of course, the pleasant days and flights of fantasy until our fate had turned from bad to worse in what is derided as the lowest and the weakest version of organized multievent competitions in the region.
But in Myanmar two years ago, we suffered our most humiliating defeat since the 1975 debut at seventh place with only 29 golds against a relatively large delegation of 219 athletes and, hold your breath, 114 officials.
What lies ahead in the 27th SEA Games in Singapore early next month is not at all reassuring, to say the least, considering that the island republic was the scene of our crushing setbacks many times in the past.
Already, Chef-de-Mission Julian Camacho has rattled off canned alibis as if to precondition the mind of the public and exonerate, this early, anything that is as forgettable as the 2013 nightmare.
Our overstaying and arrogant sports officials often gave predictions that turned comic and irritating, usually ending up on the wrong side of the harsh truth. The old proverb says, “Pride goes before a fall.”
Well, “Rome was not built in day,” and certainly we would not stand a ghost of a chance against well-funded and well-equipped campaigners of the hosts, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, and even the new member-nations in the field.
We have lagged behind, stranded in the quicksand of politics, hypocrisy and corruption. And I believe the forces that have stunted our progress are not the athletes whose spirit and the will to triumph have burned so brightly.
They are the failed policies of self-proclaimed sports leaders and political lameducks, protégés and hangers-on who have inhabited the closed kingdoms of the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission.
Sports, like history, repeats itself. But since the glorious year of 2005, our poor athletes have always ended up disgraced after the SEA Games flag had crept down the masthead and the perpetual flame had died and vanished in the night.