Galaxy of stars: Velasco, Fernandez lead new HoF inductees

Atlanta Olympics silver medalist Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco and basketball legend Ramon Fernandez banner a stellar cast of sporting stars bound for enshrinement in the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame (HoF).

The new inductees were announced Monday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex with Eduardo Pacheco of basketball and football, Isidro del Prado of athletics, Beatriz Lucero Lhuillier of gymnastics and taekwondo, Cecil Mamiit of tennis and Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta of para weightlifting all joining the growing list of inductees.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio lauded their impending induction.

“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,” Gregorio said.

“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.”

The enshrining ceremony will take place on 20 May with the venue being eyed at the Heroes Hall of the Malacañang Palace.

Each inductee will receive a specially-crafted trophy by famous sculptor Leandro Baldemor on top of P500,000.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said the selection committee had a hard time cutting the initial 75-man list to just seven.

“Everyone is deserving, but we have to choose,” Tolentino said.

The new batch of Hall of Fame members have made their marks in their respective fields.

Aside from his silver medal in the 1996 Olympics, Velsco won the gold in the men’s light flyweight division in the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan and a silver medal in the 1995 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships.

Fernandez won 19 Philippine Basketball Association in his career, including a rare Grand Slam in 1989 with San Miguel Beer, as well as 1972 Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Under-18 Championship and 1973 ABC Championship, and silver in the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing.

Lucero won two golds and three silver medals during the 1987 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games held in Jakarta and picked up a bronze medal in the women’s featherweight division in taekwondo in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games in Spain.

Pacheco suited up for the men’s football team in the 1954 Asian Games in Manila before playing for the national basketball team and won the 1962 Asian Games gold medal in Jakarta and clinched the 1963 ABC (now FIBA Asia) Championship crown in Taipei.

Under the Gintong Alay project, Del Prado became a two-time Asian Athletics Championships gold medalist in the men’s 400-meter events in 1983 and 1985 before achieving a silver medal in the 1986 Asiad in Seoul in the same event.

Mamiit made it as high as No. 72 in the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings and even competed in Grand Slams during his time to go with his six SEA Games gold medals.

Dumapong-Ancheta was a five-time ASEAN Para Games gold medalist in the women’s 85-kilogram category as well as a two-time Asian Para Games silver medalist and a bronze medalist in the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games in the 82.5kg event.