A sports aficionado in the House of Representatives has given perspective on just how impressive the recent achievements of Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena have been.
Obiena is coming off an upset victory last Sept. 2 over world’s number one pole vaulter and Olympic champion Armand Duplantis.
"EJ has certainly upped his game this year with his string of victories in global competitions that has put him in contention to becoming the best in the track-and-field event of men’s pole vaulting on the strength of his world-class talent in this sport,” Villafuerte said.
“Obiena’s spectacular win last week over Duplantis and Christopher “Chris” Nielsen—ranked the respective no.1 and no.2 male pole vaulters in the world—in the Diamond League world competition in Brussels has brought to fore President Marcos’s tribute to our athletes, along with our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) and medical frontliners, as our bagong bayani (new heroes) for their sacrifices, dedication and world-class talents and skills that make them excel on the global stage,” Villafuerte said.
Two days later, Obiena bagged second place at the Das Internationale Stadionfest (ISTAF) Berlin event.
The Filipino pole vaulter’s upset win ended the winning streak of record holder Duplantis who had vanquished the competition in a reported 17 pole-vaulting international contests before the Brussels event.
Before Obiena’s victories on the global stage in Brussels and Berlin, Villafuerte and three fellow Camarines Sur legislators introduced House Resolution (HR) 147, which was ultimately incorporated into HR 317 and adopted by the plenary.
Speaker Martin Romualdez served as lead author of HR 317, which commended the Filipino pole vaulter for his exceptional feat of winning two gold medals and a bronze in three recent international sport events.
Villafuerte and his co-authors in HR 147 said that Obiena had “brought another prestige to the Philippines and exhibited how Filipinos can compete even in the international level through their world-class talent".
Villafuerte, a sportsman responsible for developing the world-class CamSur Watersports Complex (CWC), is a former three-term governor of the province.
Obiena is currently ranked third in the world.