A BREAKTHROUGH Olympic gold medal amid the global pandemic, several world champions, a gold quartet in the Asian Games, and regaining the overall championship of the Southeast Asian Games.
In a nutshell, it defines some of the major accomplishments attained under the term of William “Butch” Ramirez as the man at the helm of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) since being re-appointed to the post back in 2016.
AS his second term as chairman of the government sports agency nears its end, Ramirez will be honored with the Excellence in Leadership Award in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Annual Awards Night for the non-stop support and help his office extended to bring Philippine sports to a new level.
Ramirez, who served as PSC chairman for the first time back in 2005 to 2009, is among the 38 awardees to be recognized by the country’s oldest media organization during the March 14 special event presented by the Philippine Olympic Committee, PSC, and Cignal TV.
The gala night will be held face-to-face at the Diamond Hotel and is backed by Milo, Philippine Basketball Association, 1Pacman, Rain or Shine, ICTSI, Chooks To Go, Smart, Philracom, and the MVP Sports Foundation.
An educator, former athletic director of Ateneo de Davao, and ex-chairman of the Davao City Sports Commission, the 71-year-old sports official was honored by the PSA with the Executive of the Year award in 2019 for successfully laying down the country’s hosting of the SEA Games three years ago, which saw Team Philippines emerge as overall champion for the second time since it began participating in the biennial meet in 1977.
The SEA Games overall championship was just one of several bright spots in Ramirez’s second term as PSC chairman.
The country bagging its breakthrough gold medal in the Olympics through weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz during the Tokyo Games will forever be associated with Ramirez at the helm of the PSC.
The 2020 Olympic campaign will also go down in memory as the most productive ever in Philippine sports history as boxers Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam added a pair of silver, and Eumir Marcial a bronze medal to complement the gold Diaz won in the women’s 55kg division.
It was also under Ramirez’s watch that the country produced several outstanding Filipino champions in the likes of gymnast Carlos Yulo, golfer Yuka Saso, pool player Carlo Biado, pole vaulter EJ Obiena, bowler Krizziah Lyn Tabora, Petecio, among others.
Even when the chips were down, Ramirez rose to the occasion and managed to steer the agency in one of the most difficult times in Philippine sports after the PSC underwent a major financial cut from the national budget amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
