Businessman and sports patron Manny Pangilinan. Handout/PSA

MANILA -- For Manny Pangilinan, sports have a "mysterious" power that makes Filipinos identify under one banner—Team Pilipinas.

“We support sports because it has a mysterious unifying power, whose roots can be deeply spiritual—because sports celebrate values such as fair play, discipline, and hard work—as well as being magnanimous in victory, humble in defeat,” Pangilinan said as he received the Sports Executive of the Year Award by the Philippine Sportswriters Association on Monday. 

Pangilinan, a businessman and staunch advocate of sports development, accepted the plum alongside fellow tycoon Ramon S. Ang of San Miguel Corporation.

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In his speech, Pangilinan shared his joyous moment when Gilas Pilipinas took home the Asiad gold in China.

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“This award is truly special for me. But accepting this with Ramon Ang just made it extra special. We cooperated in forming and sending a new Gilas Pilipinas team to Hangzhou, which brought home the crown of Asian basketball. That was a supreme and unifying moment, not just for Philippine basketball but for our country as well,” Pangilinan said in his speech.

“It was a proud moment for our people–to be Kings of Asia again–and to do it in China for better measure,” he added.

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He also looked back at the milestones that happened in 2023, what he called the golden year for Philippine sports. “The FIBA Basketball World Cup last year was of course an apex moment for the country; the Philippines took center stage to the world.”

Pangilinan also acknowledged the important role that sports-loving Filipinos all over the world played in making 2023 memorable for Philippine sports.

“Ask any of our athletes. Ask them what it feels like to walk into a stadium in Seville or Beijing, and hear cheers in the language of our people,” alluding to the many occasions when Filipino fans showed up in China, New Zealand, the Middle East, and in the home court during various sporting events where the national team played their hearts out to represent the nation.

“Watching them play together, our regional loyalties dissolve—and the Filipino identity coalesces into a single team, into a single word—Team Philippines, and puso,” Pangilinan said.

Aside from Pangilinan and Ang, the PSA also recognized sports organizations like the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, and athletes who made massive contributions to the country’s sports development, including EJ Obiena, Gilas Pilipinas, Philippine women’s national football team (Filipinas), Caloy Yulo, to name a few.