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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider POC chief sees bright year ahead

POC chief sees bright year ahead

Published Dec 29, 2025 02:28 pm

At A Glance

  • The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) Family couldn't ask for more from Filipino athletes in 2025 and the coming new year, according to president Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino, looks brighter as ever.
The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) Family couldn’t ask for more from Filipino athletes in 2025 and the coming new year, according to president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, looks brighter as ever.
“There will be more competitions overseas and more historic achievements to come for Team Philippines in 2026,” said Tolentino as he reaped praises for the marked achievements at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games—in particular the victories in women’s football, beach volleyball and basketball and the remarkable successful gold medal retention campaign in men’s 5x5 basketball.
The reason for Tolentino’s positive outlook on the future?
“Now, we’re working together with the PSC [Philippine Sports Commission] in a harmonious way,” he said.
Tolentino was generous in praising the country’s performance in the Thailand SEA Games that despite finishing sixth overall with 50 gold medals, the gold medals came in the most important events—Olympic sports.
In a news release from the PSC on Monday citing an analysis of the Thailand games by vnexpress.net, a Vietnamese online media platform, Team Philippines’ gold medals came from Olympic sports, tying Singapore for the highest percentage among the 11 competing nations.
Singapore landed fifth overall with 52 golds, 20 in aquatics—an Olympic centerpiece, whole the Philippines had its share in Olympic sports of athletics (five golds), swimming (three), gymnastics (three ), triathlon (three) and modern pentathlon (three).
Filipino athletes also made their mark in the Olympic sports of women’s football, men’s baseball, tennis through Alex Eala, beach volleyball, basketball (2), judo (2), skateboarding (2), softball (2), taekwondo (2), rowing (1), sailing (1), short-track speed skating (1), weightlifting (1) and wrestling (1).
“Those are what mattered the most, the gold medals from Olympic sports,” said Tolentino, who, under his term as POC head, saw the Philippines win its first gold medal in Tokyo 2020 via weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz and two more in gymnastics at Paris 2024 through Carlos Yulo.
Thailand was the runaway overall winner in its own SEA Games with 233 gold medals but in terms of winning Olympic events, it ranked fifth at 64 percent behind Indonesia and Singapore with 65 percent.
“And that’s where many of the points are—the Olympic goal,” Tolentino said.
The new year gives Tolentino the same enthusiastic confidence as he acknowledged successes at the Bahrain Asian Youth Games where seven gold medals were won, Chengdu World Games that yielded two silvers and two bronzes and the emphatic men’s curling gold medal at the Ninth Asian Winter Games in Harbin.
“That made us,” said Tolentino, referring to the Harbin gold medal, the first in an international winter sports competition not only by the Philippines but for Southeast Asia.
Tolento said he’s looking forward to the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics from February 6 to 22, Sanya Asian Beach Games from April 22 to 30 in China and the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games in Japan from September 19 to October 4 .
“It will be challenging this time as we will be competing in three Asian multi-sports events and we have also the Milano Winter Games and then the Youth Olympic Games,” he said. “Our athletes and national sports associations are improving every year and I’m so happy to see that.”
Add the Dakar Youth Olympic Games from October 31 to November 13—the first Olympic games in the African continent— and in Riyadh for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and Tolentino stressed on another bumper year.
“All for the Filipino athlete, all for Philippine sports,” he said.
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