Marniel Dimla, Baby Marites Bitbit, Michael Mendoza, Kevin Kong, Julius Nierras and the Bacarisas brothers Manuel and Dario stood tall and proud before the blinding klieg lights as the Philippines won its first overall crown since joining the biennial sports meet in 1977.
Dimla, who hails from the southern town of Ginatilan, shone the brightest among the Cebuano SEAG stars as he produced the country's first gold in pencak silat event after more than a decade of wait. Dimla scored a convincing 5-0 victory over Vietnamese Ding Cong Son to top the men's 70-75 kgs. tanding event in pencak silat at the Cebu Coliseum.
"I'm proud and happy to win right before my countrymen. I'd like to dedicate this victory to our country," said Dimla.
In Danao City, the Toledo City-native Bitbit basked in the glory of success, winning her first ever gold medal in SEA Games mountainbike competition.
Bitbit, who also won silver in the Individual Time Trial of the road race event in Subic, bested a tough field of opposition to rule the cross-country tilt.
"I made it. At last, I've won gold. I'll just have to train harder for the Asian Games (2006 in Doha, Qatar), which is my next target," said Bitbit.
At the grand ballroom of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, Mendoza danced with partner Belinda Adora in perfect harmony for a gold medal finish in the Latin American category of dancesport contest. Cebuana Dearlier Gerodias and John Erolle Melencio bagged the silver for RP's 1-2 finish.
In diving at Trace College Aquatics Center in Los Baños, Laguna, Kong likewise became a phantom of delight in the eyes of his Cebuano compatriots as he teamed up with Ryan Rexel Fabriga to rule the men's 10-meter platform synchronized event.
Kong and Fabriga tallied 300.78 points to turn back Malaysian rivals Bryan Nickson and James Sandayud. Over at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Vito Cruz, Manila, Nierras, a product of the comprehensive athletics program of the University of Cebu, joined forces with Jimar Aing, Ernie Candelario, and Fil-Am Kashus Perona for a golden finish in the men's 4 X 400m relay with a time of three minutes and 9.15 seconds. The Bacarisas siblings, on the other hand, formed part of the RP Blu Boys squad that won the baseball championship following a precarious 3-2 win over the tough-fighting Indonesians in the final. The stirring exploits of the Cebuanos have greatly helped the Philippines accomplish a feat that will surely go down into Social Studies books.
At the end of the multi-sport gathering participated in by over 8,000 athletes and officials from 11 countries in Southeast Asian region, the Philippines amassed a total of 291 medals broken down into 113 golds, 84 silvers, and 94 bronzes - its best showing since grabbing 31 golds, 30 silvers and bronzes apiece in its maiden entry in the 9th SEA Games on December 19-26, 1977 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.