‘I have a dream…’

MANILA, Oct. 13, 2020 – Philippine Olympic Committee president Peping Cojuangco arrived to a hero’s welcome from the Tokyo Olympics after the Philippines won five gold medals in a performance that shook the world.

“I told you so,” said a beaming Cojuangco following the country’s masterly performance which forced perennial Olympic power houses United States, Russia, and China to review their sports programs. The three nations’ top sports officials are scheduled to visit the Philippines next week to discover how the POC did it.

Cojuangco three years ago made the startling prediction that the Philippines would win five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, although the Philippines has not won a single gold medal in 24 Olympiads. For this, he was made the butt of jokes, many of them asking for his resignation. The man would not be daunted, and made his prediction in a speech, titled “I have a dream.”

But after his spot-on prediction of bagging not one, not two, but five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, Cojuangco emerged the genius, with his critics left to eat humble pie, especially those who had questioned the sports chief’s mental state.

Congress will declare “Peping Cojuangco Day” tomorrow to honor the POC chief, and Malacañang plans to rename the Rizal Memorial Complex to the Cojuangco Sports Complex, in a tribute to Cojuangco’s complex personality. A ticker tape parade is also being planned nationwide.

Cojuangco has credited his sports program for the big turnaround, although to this day no one knows what it is. He has been staunchly secretive about it since winning the POC elections in 2004. “I don’t want anyone copying it,” he said.

His staunchly secret sports program is what produced the Tokyo Olympics’ five most shocking gold medal upsets.

Just take one: Gilas Pilipinas defeated the mythical Dream Team of the U.S. in the battle for the Olympic gold. Made up of NBA stars and unbeaten in five Olympics, the Dream Team arrived at the stadium with only three players after the rest were downed by food poisoning from spoiled sashimi. The U.S. was disqualified as a minimum of four players is required to start a game.

Told that it was a hollow victory, Cojuangco said, “Who cares? A gold is a gold.”