LAOAG. — Once the country’s sports czar, Laoag City Mayor Michael Keon has assumed the role of steering the Region 1 (Ilocos Region) contingent to a fighting finish in the 65th Palarong Pambansa unfolding this Saturday at the Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. Memorial Stadium here.
“We are a team player, so now they have put me in charge of our Ilocos Region campaigners so they can excel in the Palaro our province is hosting,” said Keon Thursday in an interview with sportswriters at his office in downtown Laoag.
Keon served as the original executive director of Project: Gintong Alay, the forerunner of the Philippine Sports Commission, during the administration of the late President Ferdinand Marcos in the late 1970s, whose programs ushered in the country’s sports renaissance that was felt for decades.
Among the outstanding Gintong Alay products were former Asian sprint queen Lydia de Vega, Southeast Asian Games multiple gold medalist Elma Muros-Posadas, ace middle distance runner Isidro del Prado and Olympic bronze medallist Leopoldo Serrantes, among others.
He cited the fact that it was Marcos Sr. who helped form Project: Gintong Alay, focusing on a handful of sports led by the Olympic centerpiece events of athletics and swimming, which paved the way for the country to emerge as a sports powerhouse in Asia.
Known as a Spartan athletic drillmaster, Keon continued to wield the Midas touch, leading the Laoag City bets to their second straight overall championship in the last Region 1 Athletic Association games in Pangasinan with a grand haul of 86 gold, 63 silver and 68 bronze medals.
Of the gold tally, 38 or nearly half of the output came from artistic gymnastics alone.
An outspoken proponent of grassroots sports development, he said that he has always worked with basic principles in nurturing athletes so that they can evolve and eventually succeed in international play.
“First of all, I believe that sound and proper coaching is always paramount to an athlete’s success, and we were able to hire top coaches for Laoag City that helped us win the Region 1 AA meet,” he said.
“I am looking for our Ilocos middle distance runners,” said the former Gintong Alay, a standout in the men’s 5,000-meter run in the UAAP athletic intramurals as a runner for UP.
Among those he hired were former Gintong Alay and national team standouts Renato Unso and Erlinda Lavandia in athletics and respected and proven coaches in gymnastics, swimming and combat sports, among others.
He said with Ilocos Norte as the host of the meet for the second time “we hope that we can do well in these respective sports, including lawn tennis, where we have a pretty strong team, as well.”
Keon is bullish that the hosts would rise from their 15th place finish in the previous edition in Cebu City, where they won five gold, 14 silver and 10 bronze medals.
He expects President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to be around to grace the Palaro, similar to what his father did in 1968 as the guest of honor of the meet.
