THIS year’s string of victories of pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena, notably his upset victory this September over the World’s No. 1 and Olympic champion Armand Gustav “Mondo” Duplantis, is yet another testament to the Filipino’s stature among the best on the global stage, whether in sports or other fields, according to Camarines Sur Representative and National Unity Party (NUP) President LRay Villafuerte.

“EJ (Obiena) has certainly upped his game this year with his string of victories in global competitions that has put him in contention to becoming the best in the track-and-field event of men’s pole vaulting on the strength of his world-class talent in this sport,” Villafuerte, a former Camarines Sur governor, said.

Villafuerte said Obiena’s September 2 win over the world’s top two pole vaulters—actually his third gold medal this year—brought to fore President Marcos Jr.’s declaration of Filipino athletes, along with overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and our healthcare workers, as the country’s “Bagong Bayani” or modern-day heroes.

Obiena also won a silver medal in last weekend’s international contest ISTAF at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany.

“Obiena’s spectacular win last week over Duplantis and Christopher ‘Chris’ Nielsen—ranked the respective No. 1 and No. 2 male pole vaulters in the world—in the Diamond League world competition in Brussels has brought to fore President Marcos’ tribute to our athletes, along with our OFWs and medical frontliners, as our ‘bagong bayani’ for their sacrifices, dedication and world-class talents and skills that make them excel on the global stage,” Villafuerte said.

He, at the same time, sought full national and government support for the National Sports Academy (NSA) as a way to discover, train, and produce more Filipino athletes with world-class skills who can excel in various fields of sports, such as Obiena; Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz in weightlifting; and former eight-division world champion and former Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao and Olympic silver medalists Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco, Nesty Petacio and Carlo Paalam, and bronze medalist Eumir Marcial, all in boxing.

Other Filipino sports greats include six-time world champion Rafael “Paeng” Nepomuceno in bowling, nine-ball and eight-ball world champion Efren “Bata” Reyes in billiards, and former Asian queen Lydia de Vega in track and field.

Villafuerte was the principal author of the House of Republic Act (RA) 11470 that established in 2020 the NSA, which now has a campus at the New Clark City (NCC) in Capas, Tarlac, that is supervised by the Department of Education (DepEd).

Before Obiena’ latest victories on the global arena in Brussels and Berlin, Villafuerte and three fellow Camarines Sur legislators had introduced House Resolution (HR) 147, which was eventually incorporated into a final version (HR 317) that the House approved to commend the Filipino pole vaulter for his exceptional feat of winning two gold medals and a bronze in three recent international sports events.

HR 317, which had Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez as the lead author, was adopted by the House in consolidation with HR 147 and 7 other resolutions commending Obiena.

Villafuerte and his co-authors said in HR 147 that Obiena had “brought another prestige to the Philippines and exhibited how Filipinos can compete even [at] the international level through their world-class talent.”

His HR 147 co-authors were CamSur Reps. Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata and Bicol Saro Rep. Nicolas Enciso VIII.

In the consolidated resolution, the House commended Obiena for winning separate gold medals in August at the 26th Internationales Stabhochsprung-Meeting in Jockgrimand and the True Athletes Classic in Leverkusen, both in Germany and a bronze medal last July at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, United States.

Villafuerte noted that just days after the House passed the consolidated resolution lauding Obiena, who is now ranked the world’s No. 3 athlete in this sport, accomplished another amazing feat in bagging another gold last week by defeating the US-born Swede Duplantis and the American Nilsen at the Diamond League in Brussels, Belgium.

Two days later, he won second place in the Das Internationale Stadionfest (ISTAF) Berlin event.

The Filipino pole vaulter’s upset win ended the winning streak of record holder Duplantis who had vanquished the competition in a reported 17 pole-vaulting international contests before the Brussels event.

After the Brussels competition, Nilsen was quoted in news reports as saying that: “No one produced any good marks today except Ernest John (Obiena) with a first Diamond League win.”

In his National Heroes, Day message, the President pledged to support OFWs, healthcare workers and athletes whom he called our “Bagong Bayani… at marami pang iba ay mga bayaning magsusulong sa atin tungo sa bagong Pilipinas.”

“Ang ating mga atleta ay tinuturing mga bayani yan. Ang kanilang sakirpisyo sa pag-ensayo, ang oras na ginugugol nila para mahasa ang kanilang kakayanan para lang makapagdala ng karangalan sa ating bansa. Kaya suportahan natin silang lahat,” Mr. Marcos Jr. said.

A sportsman responsible for developing the world-class Camarines Sur Watersports Complex (CWC) on his watch as governor, Villafuerte said RA 11470 was institutionalized to recognize and develop exceptionally talented students from all sectors, including indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups.

Under RA 11470, the NAS was mandated to offer a special curriculum for secondary education or high school students with subjects pertaining to physical education (PE) and sports development.

When he was Camarines Sur governor, Villafuerte established the CamSur Sports Academy, which integrated sports training into the curriculum of high school students.

This initiative resulted in sharpening the skills of Camarines Sur student-athletes, who eventually excelled in Palarong Pambansa competitions.