What is Gintong Alay ?

Gintong Alay was the flagship sports project created by former President Ferdinand Marcos on October 31, 1979 primarily for athletics development to restore Filipinos rightful place as among the top sports champions in Asia. The project was designed to promote dedication and commitment to sports in its campaign to harvest gold medals in international sports events as part of the integral national goals of the country and also the Filipino way of life. In order to provide the best outcome for athletes, scientific programs and trainings were required and with these comes resources, materials and funding thus the program was created. In such a short time of its operation, success was foreseen and on May 2, 1980 the project expanded its scope of sports development and included 17 more other sport categories, was elevated to a national project with educational fund campaigns supported by both the government and joined by the private sectors.

Michael Edward Keon, the no-nonsense young person and a man who has his own reputation for excellence and is known as a competent administrator given his background in positions of leadership in sports, was appointed as head of the project and also was nephew of then President Marcos. Michael Keon was the son of Marcos sister, the fiery Elizabeth who was then the governor of Ilocos Norte and married to Australian Michael James Keon who worked for the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, and who was involved in the “Green Revolution Campaign” during the time of the late beloved President Ramon Magsaysay and had a hand in setting up the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños, Laguna.

The first successful member of Gintong Alay was Lydia de Vega, a lissome lass from Bulacan who came to the scene and cracked the national record in the 100 and 400 meters track. De Vega became the darling of track and field events and was named the “Sprint Queen of Asia” by winning the 100 m gold medal in New Delhi in 1982 South East Asian Games and duplicating her feat in the SEA Games in Seoul, South Korea 4 years later. Along with her success came other champions such as 400 m male counter part Isidro del Prado who also bagged golds for the country with steeplechaser Hector Begeo, hurdler Renato Unso and a host of other athletes that included the basketball team spearheaded by Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco.

While the success of the project boomed during the 80’s, it deteriorated after the ouster of Marcos in February 1982. The project was stalled for a decade and was brought back during the early part of the 90’s. Though brought back to be a part of the Philippine Olympic Committee’s added project, funding and resources from the private sectors had diminished and participation of individuals from schools nationwide through the Palarong Pambansa had shortened.

With so many talents around the country just waiting to be tapped, I hope that the congress and senate with the help of the national sports committee, government and private sector could formulate and support a way of resuscitating a golden project like this. It would allow us to show once again that the Philippines is a mighty powerhouse country to be beaten in sports and would once again add fame and glory through sporting events and would indirectly help the travel and tourism industry.