Philippine para athletes Cendy Asusano and Angel Mae Otom. Handout/Philippine Sports Commission-Philippine Paralympic Committee 

Para athlete Cendy Asusano and para swimmer Angel Mae Otom emerged as the rising stars for Team Philippines at the 17th Paralympic Games that closed on Sunday at the Stade de France in Paris.

The 34-year-old Asusano made her debut in the quadrennial meet on the penultimate day of the Games and set a new personal best, hurling the javelin for 15.05-meters on her first attempt.

It was good enough for fourth place and allowed her to maintain her world ranking.

A double gold medalist in last year's ASEAN Para Games in Cambodia, her heave was 42 centimeters better than her previous standard of 14.63-m in the World Para Championships in Kobe, Japan last May where she also placed fourth.

"Ang feeling ko parang naka-gold na ako dahil first time ko ma-surpass yung 15 meters," said the Pasig resident. "Sabi ni coach Bernard Ebuen ibuga ko na nang todo sa first throw pa lang at yan po ang naging resulta."

"Sayang, naka-podium sana, pero nandiyan 'yung Iranian," said coach Ebuen, referring to Elham Salehi, who took the bronze with a throw of 16.24 meters. "May iba pang pagkakataon pa naman. Patuloy na nag-iimprove siya."

READ: Asusano resets personal best, retains world ranking in Paralympics

Before Asusano's feat, para swimmer Otom was the star for Team Philippines after reaching the finals of both her events.

She clocked a new personal best of 45.78 seconds in placing fifth in  the women’s 50-meter butterfly S5 race, surpassing her old mark of 47.52-s in the World Para Championships in Manchester, England last year.

The 21-year-old from Olongapo City, Zambales previously advanced to the finals of the women's 50-meter backstroke S5, keeping in pace with the Chinese swimmers led by defending champion Lu Dong until the last 15 meters.

READ: Otom sets new personal-best, finishes 5th in women's 50m butterfly

READ: Otom finishes 6th in 50m backstroke as China sweeps podium

Long the pillars of the PH para team in international play, wheelchair racer Jerrold Mangliwan and para swimmer Ernie Gawilan likewise reached the finals of the 400-meter T52 and 400-meter freestyle events, respectively.

Unable to get a firm grip of wheelchair racer under rainy conditions, Mangliwan was eighth among the finalists in a time of 1:04.55 while Gawilan was sixth again in his forte in a time of 5:03.18.

One-armed taekwondo jin Allan Ganapin acquitted himself well on the Paralympic Games stage, whipping Afghan Hassansada Hadi 22-13 of Refugee Paralympic Team in the opening round of the men’s K44 men’s 80-kilogram division. 

But Ganapin, who missed the Tokyo edition in 2021 due to COVID-19, dropped a close 9-12 decision to World Cup champion Abulfaz Aburzali of Azerbaijan in the round-of-16.

Fellow newcomer Agustina Bantiloc, the country’s first representative in para archery, lost in the round-of-16 in the knockout round to Brazilian Karla Jogel 127-143 to wrap up the Philippine bid.

Four athletes -- Gawilan, Mangliwan, Otom and Asusano -- reached the medal stage of their respective events, which was not so  in the majority of the  country’s participation in the Paralympic Games  since Filipino bets began campaigning in the sportsfest in the 1988 Seoul edition.

Three years ago, neither Gawilan nor Gary Bejino, the other para swimmer in the Tokyo Summer Paralympics, advanced to the finals while Mangliwan was a non-factor in his pet event after being disqualified for crossing into the wrong lane.  

However, snapping the country's dry spell in the Paralympic Games will have to wait for another four years, when the 2028 edition is held in Los Angeles.

The late table tennis player Josephine Medina was the last Filipino para athlete to reach the podium in the Paralympics, taking home a bronze from Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

"For us it was back to basics since there was a void (in development) from 2019 to 2023 due to the pandemic," said Philippine Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo, who stressed that they have plenty of work to do to enhance the competitiveness of the country's para athletes. 

"We need to have more para tournaments in all of these sports and expand our grassroots with the help of the Philippines Sports Commission, especially now that they will have more funds coming in the work of the Supreme Court decision restoring the incomes of the PSC from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office," he added.

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