CALL THEM “The Magnificent Seven.”
Basketball legend Ramon Fernandez and Olympic boxing silver medalist Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco head the new batch of inductees to the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame that was officially named on Monday by Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chair Patrick C. Gregorio.
Also inducted were Eduardo Pacheco of basketball and football, Bea Lucero-Lhuillier of gymnastics and taekwondo, Isidro del Prado of athletics, Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta of para powerlifting , and Cecil Mamiit of tennis.
“The Philippine Sports Hall of Fame is more than an honor roll of medals — it is a living ledger of greatness to honor those who have defined what it means to be Filipino in sport,” said Mr. Gregorio, who headed the selection committee along with Philippine Olympic Committee chief Abraham Tolentino.
“These are not just names. They are the pride and memory of a nation. The search for new enshrinees has been difficult because there are many stories of greatness in sports,” he added.
Mr. Fernandez, a former PSC commissioner and PBA legend, was the ninth from the sport to be named into the elite group while Mr. Velasco joined elder brother Roel as the ninth boxer in that league of extraordinary gentlemen and ladies.
All of the inductees will receive P500,000 each plus a beautifully sculpted wooden trophy.
Mr. Pacheco was part of the 1962 Asian Games basketball team that struck gold and the squad that competed in the 1960 Olympics and suited up for national booters that competed in the 1954 Asian Games and Olympic qualification in that same era.
Ms. Lucero-Lhuillier, for her part, was a 1987 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold winner in gymnastics, an Asian Championship taekwondo bronze winner and a 1992 Olympian while Ms. Dumapong-Ancheta blazed the trail for the country’s para team after becoming the first to win a medal in the Paralympics in 2000 in Athens, Greece with a bronze.
Mr. del Prado was a two-time Olympian and multiple SEA Games champion in the individual and relay sprints while Mr. Mamiit was a multiple SEA Games gold winner in doubles and team events and an Asiad medalist. — Joey Villar
