Pinoy Big Brother

After guarding the secret like the gold bars at Fort Knox, the cat is finally out of the bag. Yes folks, Rodolfo "Rudy" Fernandez, Iloilo City's legendary one -- legged triathlete is a housemate in the television reality show Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition. ABS-CBN Western Visayas regional manager Desiree Bretaña said they had tense moments waiting for the green light if Rudy will be accepted in the "house". While Rudy is disabled he is also past the required age limit of 40 as well, Rudy is 59. Rudy was subjected to a battery of tests, physical, psychological, etc. In fact, Rudy told me when he first had his blood pressure taken, it was 160/100. "Daw ginerbiyos ako," said Rudy. It was only last week that Rudy finally got the go signal.

Poor Man's Champion

But who is Rudy? Well, I first met him when he staged his first ever fund-raising run from Sara town to Iloilo City in 1986, a distance of 104 kilometers that he covered in 6 days. The run was sponsored by the Philippine Band of Mercy that donated his fiber glass artificial leg. The run generated over P60,000 pesos (in today's rate it's go to be a lot bigger). Rudy was a silver medalist in the 1972 Pesta Sukna Games in Singapore. He held the RP record in the 1,600 meters for sometime. In 1979, he was watching a movie in an Iloilo theater when a grenade exploded right under his chair. His right leg from above the knee was amputated while his companion (brother-in-law) died. The Sara to Iloilo run was the start of our partnership called the Rudy and Raffy Show to me. We had been staging fund raising runs to assist the disabled and other charitable institutions. Rudy was the Readers Digest Hero of Heroes awardee in 1996 when he swarm the 28-mile Guimaras to Bacolod Channel in 8 hours. We also participated in several international marathons including the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon and Singapore Marathon.

Rudy has also joined several international marathons including the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon and Singapore Marathon. Rudy has also joined several triathlons like the Subic and Timex triathlons. In 2000 while training for the Sidney Paralympics, he was hit by a speeding van that almost killed him. "Ang piang gin piang pa dyud". To finance his operation, I organized the Run for Rudy event that drew over 1,000 runners in Manila. In the latter part of that year we embarked again on a fund raising cycling from Iloilo city to Jamindan, Capiz. The 250-kilometer odyssey was for the benefit of the widow and orphans of Ilonggo army men who died in the Mindanao conflict. It will probably take the entire pages of this newspaper if I continue enumerating Rudy's feats. Well, one thing for sure Rudy's fighting spirit would serve him well, in Big Brother's house. His love for the needy and perseverance will also be plus factors. Six million Rudy? Pila ako diha? Five pesos puede na.