Social media was on fire when news broke out that Richard “Dickie” Bachmann had been replaced as chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) late Friday.

The news broke like a thief in the night catching everyone by surprise, including Bachmann and his reported successor, Patrick “Pato” Gregorio.

The following day — Saturday — the inevitable finally happened. In a text message from Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, he confirmed that Gregorio will be the 13th chairman of the government sports agency.

Gregorio is the perfect choice.

The son of a professor of Spanish at the University of the Philippines and a recipient of a Ten Outstanding Young Men award in 2003, the 57-year-old Gregorio has displayed impressive leadership and management skills in various capacities as a sports administrator.

He served as the first-ever secretary general of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas in 2006 before being tasked to handle Smart Sports, the sports marketing arm of industrialist Manny Panglinan that evolved into the MVP Sports Foundation.

He was also the governor of TNT Tropang Giga, which paved the way for his chairmanship of the Philippine Basketball Association in 2014.

But his expertise isn’t limited to basketball. When top Pangilinan deputy Victorico “Ricky” Vargas took over as Philippine Olympic Committee chief in 2018, Gregorio helped him as his secretary general while running the day-to-day affairs of the Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines.

Right now, Gregorio is the president of the Philippine Rowing Association, a role that he juggles with manning operations at The Manor and Forest Lodge inside Camp John Hay as head of Hospitality and Lifestyle Ventures of Landco Pacific Corp.

In short, Gregorio is very much qualified. Philippine sports gained an experienced and topnotch leader with his appointment in the top government sports agenda.

Gregorio is a breath of fresh air to Philippine sports.

The national athletes are enjoying their golden era with historic victories in the Tokyo and Paris Olympics as well as impressive performances in the 19th Asian Games and 32nd Asian Games. Filipino athletes are no longer just competing for pride — they are now actually competing for gold medals in the international arena.

Gregorio has what it takes to sustain this momentum. His iron-clad relationship with POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and other national sports association leaders will serve as his biggest weapon in navigating the tough challenges of his new office.

But more than that, Gregorio is a gifted communicator who can easily reach out to everybody from the national athletes to the coaches up to the ranking executives of other government agencies and the biggest sports benefactors in the country like his former office — MVP Sports Foundation.

But his qualifications don’t necessarily mean that he will do a good job. He still has to put in the work and prove that he deserves the trust, the confidence and the belief of the Chief Executive entering the second half of his administration.

So good luck, Mr. Chairman. The ball is now in your court. Please map out the winning play so that your players — the Filipino athletes — will sustain their winning streak.