Sports pillar dies in peace

MANILA, Philippines — A principled man who decried politics and vested interest in sports has passed away in Los Angeles, leaving behind a legacy of uncompromising patriotism that was the hallmark of his four-year term as president of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF), later evolved into the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).

Felipe Monserrat died in his sleep at home last Oct. 18. He was 95. Ten years ago, Monserrat reached out to The STAR and broke a silence of 24 years to blame politicians and unscrupulous leaders for the country’s repeated failures in the Olympics. “Before I die, I hope the Philippines wins an Olympic gold medal or even another silver,” he said. Hidilyn Diaz made it happen with a silver in women’s weightlifting at the 2016 Rio Games.

Monserrat suffered a stroke over seven years ago but it was only some weeks back that his body functions began to fail. “Once it was clear that there was nothing more the doctors could do for him, we chose to take him home under hospice care,” said Monserrat’s only daughter Peggy. “He lasted four days and passed peacefully in his sleep.” Before he died, his five children -- Pinky, Butch, Peggy, Mike and Ike -- were together in Los Angeles. Butch flew in from Australia where he lives while Pinky and Mike came from out of town in the US.  Monserrat is survived by his wife Natividad Larena, five children, six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

Monserrat migrated to Los Angeles in 1984 with his family and said he quit sports because “politics overcame me and I couldn’t do anything about.” He fought a difficult war against all odds. But Monserrat didn’t give up easily. As president of the Association for the Advancement of Amateur Athletics, he spearheaded a strong lobby before the Senate and the House of Representatives for the approval of R. A. No. 3135 to grant autonomy to NSAs. The decentralization of the PAAF and POC, which functioned with common officials, was made into law in 1962. The PAAF was later abolished in 1974, in the process bolstering the identity of the POC.

Monserrat succeeded Antonio de las Alas as PAAF president in 1968 after he headed the Philippine delegation at the Mexico Olympics. Monserrat was reelected in 1970, the year he received the Distinguished Lasallian Award, the highest honor given by the school to an alumnus. In 1972, he resigned from the PAAF “out of frustration.” What broke Monserrat’s resolve was the lack of support for his campaign to send more athletes than officials at the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok.

“I took a stand and wanted to send only athletes who had the potential for at least a bronze medal at the Asian Games,” said Monserrat. “That’s because we didn’t have enough money. I wanted to set an example by sending a lean but competitive delegation. I put my foot down on junkets where officials outnumbered athletes in attending sports events. I didn’t want to waste time and resources by sending so many athletes and officials. I promised to resign if I couldn’t do it. I was overrun by politicians.”

Monserrat made good on his promise and quit. It took a man of high ethical standards to do what he did. “Unless politics is out of sports, we’ll never progress,” he said. “It’s sickening. I hate the back-stabbing. During our time, we served for the love of sports and didn’t care about the perks.” On his term, Monserrat said there was only P1 Million to go around 22 NSAs but sports officials, known for their sincerity, took the initiative to solicit private sector support for their events.

“The key is to build upwards in a pyramid where the grassroots base is strong,” he said. “It takes a lot of dedication and drive for an athlete to excel and sports officials must set a good example of discipline and sacrifice. Technology is essential. If our athletes aren’t exposed to new techniques in strengthening their skills and conditioning, we won’t go far. Even if I’ve been forgotten, I think my contribution of pushing for NSA autonomy was significant. In our time, sports officials and sportswriters were united in fighting for reforms. Teddy Benigno and Virgilio Pantaleon were with us. Mariano Yenko, Henry Quema, Luis Javellana, Tony de las Alas and Ambrosio Padilla were some of our exemplary leaders.”

Monserrat said recognizing the problem was essential to finding a solution. “When I became president of the Philippine Football Federation, we were getting clobbered by Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan with scores of 14-0 and 12-0,” he said. “Our problem was coaching. So I recruited four Spanish coaches, including Juan Cutillas and Tomas Lozano and asked San Miguel Corp. to sponsor them. Then we organized BOFA, a boys league, with Leo Prieto and John Clelland to develop a new core of players. After two or three years, the results were evident. From four boys teams, we grew to hundreds. We became competitive in Asia and to sustain the program, added two more coaches from England and Scotland. With good results, we were able to generate more sponsors.”

Contrary to his notion, Monserrat isn’t forgotten in Philippine sports history. He will forever be revered as a bastion of integrity, a man of vision and action, with a heart for the Filipino athlete.