Onyok Velasco, Ramon Fernandez among 2026 PH Sports Hall of Fame inductees

Olympic silver medalist and boxer Onyok Velasco and basketball icon Ramon Fernandez are among the athletes set to be inducted into the 2026 class of the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame, with the enshrinement ceremony scheduled for May.

Velasco and Fernandez headline this year’s batch of inductees, which also includes Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta (para powerlifting), Beatriz Lucero Lhuillier (gymnastics/taekwondo), Cecil Mamiit (tennis), Eduardo Pacheco (football/baseball), and Isidro del Prado (athletics).

“Lahat naman deserving, but we have to choose,” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino.

(There are a lot of athletes who are deserving, but we have to choose.)

Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick Gregorio emphasized that the Hall of Fame serves as a reminder of national pride through sports.

“The Philippine Sports Hall of Fame is more than an honor roll of medals. It is a living ledger of greatness that honors those who have defined what it means to be Filipino in sport,” Gregorio said.

“These are not just names. They are the pride and memory of a nation. The search for new enshrinees has been difficult because there are many stories of greatness in sports. Some are measured in medals; many are not. Yet we undertake this task because a nation that remembers its champions is a nation that continues to produce them.”

The panel that selected the Hall of Fame inductees includes Gregorio, Tolentino, Games and Amusements Board chair Atty. Francisco Rivera, NSA representatives Jarryd Belo and Jose Malonzo, Ayala Foundation representative Xavier Virata, and MVP Sports Foundation president Al Panlilio.

Members of the media were also part of the review and evaluation committee, including Jun Lomibao (BusinessMirror), Dodo Catacutan (Spin. ph), Ignacio Dee (Manila Standard), Al Mendoza (BusinessMirror), and Joaquin Henson (The Philippine Star).

According to Henson, a member of the review committee, there were 75 nominees from various regions, provinces, and sports associations. The committee added more names to ensure a comprehensive list before trimming it down to 15 finalists.

“Very, very difficult process because it involved a lot of discussions. Tiningnan natin lahat ng qualifications ng athletes. After which, as it was explained earlier, there was a meeting between the screening, selection, and review committees. From there, there were further discussions until the final seven were chosen,” Henson said.

The Philippine Sports Hall of Fame was established under Republic Act No. 8757, which mandates that candidates be "Filipino athletes, coaches, or trainers who have distinguished themselves in local and international sports and who possess character and integrity."

"For athletes, the criteria include winning at least a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games, a silver medal in the Asian Games or equivalent regional competitions, a bronze medal in the Olympics or World Games, or a world championship in professional or amateur competition," the law said.

Gregorio added that he plans to push for amendments to the law to include sports leaders, patrons, and members of the media as future Hall of Fame inductees.

The Hall of Fame currently has 37 inductees, including notable figures such as Teofilo Yldefonso, the first Filipino and Southeast Asian Olympic medalist who bagged bronze in the 1928 and 1932 Olympics; 1936 Olympic bronze medalist Miguel White; basketball greats Caloy Loyzaga, Kurt Bachmann, and Robert Jaworski; boxing legends Gabriel Elorde and Pancho Villa; football icon Paulino Alcantara; and bowling champions Paeng Nepomuceno and Bong Coo, among others.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA News