ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider For excellence and service in PH sports

For excellence and service in PH sports

Published Apr 5, 2021 10:01 am
Jose Romasanta, Danding Cojuangco and Sonny Barrios (Photos from handout, file, and SBP)

Three leaders who made great contributions in strengthening Philippine sports through the years were honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Awards Night held virtually last March 27 at the TV5 Media Center in Mandaluyong City.

The late ambassador and former San Miguel Corporation Chairman and CEO Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, former PBA commissioner Renauld "Sonny" Barrios and one-time Gintong Alay Project Director Jose A. Romasanta joined a long list of previous honorees that included sportings greats in Efren "Bata" Reyes, Caloy Loyzaga, Virgilio "Baby" Dalupan, Florencio Campomanes, Mauricio Martelino, Francisco Elizalde, Carlos Padilla, Filomeno "Boy" Cordillera, the 1973 national men's basketball team, among others.

Former Pangasinan congressman Mark Cojuangco accepted the award on behalf of his late father, thanking the country's oldest media organization for recognizing the numerous achievements and contributions of Danding, especially his love and dedication in helping nurture Philippine basketball.

"He (Danding) had a great desire to see the Filipino excel and win, and most importantly to feel proud of being Filipino especially abroad," Mark spoke of his late father, who was known as the godfather of Philippine basketball during the time of the late President Marcos.

"He felt that competition and competitive spirit was the only way to better, and eventually with hard work to best. He wanted us to be first grade. And so he immersed himself into all aspects of sports. He embraced it and did his damn best to make it work and that's why he was successful and inspiring."

Danding, who died at age 85 last June, was behind the successful Northern Consolidated Corporation (NCC) basketball program under the late great coach Ron Jacob, which paved the way for creating talents of the country's top amateur players and naturalized athletes.

Cojuangco held top executive positions in San Miguel Corporation as its chairman and CEO, which led in bringing its name to the PBA by winning the first Grand Slam in 1989 with the San Miguel Beermen under coach Norman Black since the fabled Crispa Redmanizers achieved it twice in 1983 and 1976.

The Tim Cone-coached San Mig Super Coffee Mixers followed it up with a Grand Slam of their own decades later in the 2013-14 season while SMC continued to make huge waves with many PBA titles with San Miguel, Magnolia (Purefoods franchise), and Ginebra.

Barrios, the Executive Director of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, for his part, likewise, thanked the sports media, the legions of Filipino basketball fans, the PBA, and the SBP for the continuous support and contributions to Philippine basketball.

He also extended gratitude to the late Jun Bernardino, who served as the PBA's fifth commissioner from 1994 to 2002.

"Let me end by saying ipagpatuloy po atin ang pag-support hindi lang sa basketball kundi sa lahat ng Philippine sports," said Barrios, who was Bernardino's deputy commissioner before being commissioner himself from 2008 to 2010, replacing sixth PBA chief Noli Eala (2003-2007).

Romasanta, meanwhile, felt honored to be recognized among the country's sports giants and said the Lifetime Achievement Award was the fruit of his 35-year labor in Philippine sport.

"The Philippines is a sports-loving country and Filipinos are not only sports inclined but super talented as well. These God-given talents should be nurtured, cared for and sustained not only for reasons of competitions and medals but more so for nation-building and through a better citizenry," said the 76-year-old Romasanta, who was a long-time associate of former Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president and former Tarlac congressman Jose "Peping" Cojuangco.

"Hopefully, us in Philippine sports will be ever conscious of these realities thereby contributing to nation-building and making the Philippines the best country to live in."

Romasanta once served as the POC vice-president and spearheaded different National Sports Associations (NSA) such as softball, karetedo and volleyball.

One of his commendable feats to lead the country as chef de mission to the 2016 Rio Olympics, which saw the Philippines end a 20-year medal drought after weightlifting icon Hidilyn Diaz captured silver in the women's 53-kg division.

Related Tags

PSA PSA Awards Jose Romasanta Danding Cojuangco Philippine Sportswriters Association Awards Sonny Barrios
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.