PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee (POC) president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino will be vested the Executive of the Year award for the second consecutive year during the San Miguel Corp.-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Annual Awards Night.
Tolentino will receive the honor from the country’s oldest media organization for again steering Philippine sports to greater heights in 2022. The PSA’s traditional gala night is on March 6 at the grand ballroom of the Diamond Hotel.
Tolentino received the award in 2021 for having led the country’s successful campaign in Tokyo where weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo won the Philippines’s first-ever Olympic gold medal.
The year that passed saw Philippine sports achieve a high level of success once more behind Diaz-Naranjo’s golden treble at the 88th International Weightlifting Federation World Championships, Alex Eala becoming the first Filipino to win a girls juniors singles at the 142nd US Open, the women’s football team clinching a first-ever berth in the FIFA Women’s World Cup and winning the ASEAN Women’s Championship, EJ Obiena rising to become the world No. 3 pole vaulter after a historic bronze medal finish at the World Athletics Championship and gymnast Caloy Yulo claiming three golds in the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships and a silver and bronze at the World Championships.
There’s also karateka Junna Tsukii bagging gold at the World Games, Carlo Paalam bringing home gold from the Asian Boxing Championships and the billiards team of Rubilen Amit, Carlo Biado and Johann Chua topping the World 10-Ball Teams Championships.
Added to the list are Meggie Ochoa and Kimberly Anne Custodio dominating the jiu-jitsu world championships and Team Philippines finishing a fighting fourth in the Vietnam 31st Southeast Asian Games despite the difficulty of training and campaigning because of the pandemic.
Tolentino is also the president of the Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines or PhilCycling and currently Mayor of Tagaytay City.
Diaz-Naranjo will be recognized as the Athlete of the Year for the second straight time during the formal event presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV and ably backed up by the POC, Tolentino, Milo, Smart, MVP Sports Foundation, Rain or Shine, 1Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero, Philippine Basketball Association, OKBet and the International Container Terminal Services Inc.
Eala will receive the President’s Award, while Major Awards will be handed out to Obiena, Team Filipinas, Yulo, Ochoa, Paalam, Custodio, Tsukii, Amit Biado and Chua.