THREE very important personalities considered as among the pillars of Philippine sports will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award during the San Miguel Corp.-Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) virtual Annual Awards Night.
The late Ambassador and former San Miguel Corp. Chairman and CEO Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, one-time Gintong Alay Project Director Jose Romasanta and former Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner Renauld “Sonny” Barrios will receive the special award to be handed out by the country’s oldest media organization in the March 27 event at the TV5 Media Center.
The three respected personalities join unanimous Athlete of the Year choice Yuka Saso in the compact list of awardees which will be recognized in the first-ever PSA virtual awards co-presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV with 1-Pacman Partylist and Rain or Shine as major backers.
A year ago, pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes was bestowed the Lifetime Achievement Award, joining a long and storied list of previous honorees that included the likes of Carlos Loyzaga, Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan, Florencio Campomanes, Mauricio Martelino, Francisco Elizalde, Carlos Padilla, Filomeno “Boy” Codinera, the 1973 Philippine men’s basketball team, among others.
Although known more as a businessman and political figure, Cojuangco was best remembered as a long-time supporter of Philippine basketball and godfather of the national men’s basketball team during the time of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
Under his watch, he put together the blueprint of the Northern Consolidated Corp. basketball program under the late great coach Ron Jacobs and bannered by the country’s top amateur players and three naturalized cagers.
The program saw the resurgence of Philippine basketball in international campaigns which saw the country win the 1982 Asian Youth Championship at the Araneta Coliseum, 1984 Asian Interclub Championship, 1985 Jones Cup and Southeast Asian Games, before culminating with a triumphant campaign in the 1985 FIBA-Asia Championship, marking the last time the country topped the biennial tournament.
Cojuangco was also the man behind the success of San Miguel Corp. in the PBA which won the league’s first grand slam outside of the fabled Crispa Redmanizers in 1989. More championships were won later when both Ginebra and Purefoods became part of the giant conglomerate.
The former Tarlac governor and congressman who run for the highest position in the country in the 1992 elections as founder of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), later turned his attention to De La Salle’s basketball program, which netted the school two University Athletic Association of the Philippines championship in 2013 and 2016, respectively.
He died because of lingering illness in June 2020. He was 85.
Romasanta meanwhile, is a sportsman all his life, having been a pillar of the Project Gintong Alay where he was executive director shortly after the EDSA Revolution.
A long-time associate of former Philippine Olympic Committee President and congressman Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, the 76-year-old Romasanta was also a former POC vice president and of the national sports associations of softball, karatedo and volleyball.
He was chef de mission of the Philippine delegation to the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics that saw the country end a 20-year medal drought after Hidilyn Diaz bagged silver in the women’s 53-kg division of weighlifting.
Barrios served in various capacities in his long tenure with Asia’s pioneering pro league, initially as assistant to the executive director, executive assistant and finance officer, deputy commissioner, acting commissioner and finally as commissioner in 2008, becoming the PBA’s seventh chief.
He is currently the executive director of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
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