MANILA, Philippines — Years of dreaming, planning and working will finally yield handsome results with the construction of a sports museum that could pave the way for the creation of a first-ever Philippine Sports Hall of Fame.

With the Philippine Sports Commission at the helm, the sports museum is set for launch on Apr. 25 on the second floor of the Philippine National Bank building, in front of the Harrison Plaza in Manila.

“Under Republic Act 8757,” said PSC chair William “Butch” Ramirez, “the PSC is mandated to establish a Sports Hall of Fame designed to preserve and honor the country’s sports heritage. The Hall of Fame will enshrine Filipino athletes, coaches and trainers who achieved extraordinary feats in their respective disciplines in the past.”

And there’s an eye on the future, as well. With each new Olympic Games, Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games or other major sporting events, the Hall of Fame will be expanded to include the medals won, videos, books, photographs and other memorabilia.

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It’s a perfect place to see and appreciate the exploits of Filipino sports heroes such as boxing greats Pancho Villa and Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso, the country’s first Olympic medal winner, who won a bronze in the 220-meter backstroke in the 1928 Amsterdam Games and repeated that feat in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics; it was also in Los Angeles where two other Filipino athletes bagged a bronze each, the most by the Philippines in a single Olympics, with Simeon Toribio placing third in the high jump and Cely Villanueva copping third place in boxing.

Tennis legend Totoy Ampon was the PSA’s first Athlete of the Year in 1949; basketball immortal Carlos Loyzaga spearheaded the Philippine team to a record-setting third-place finish in the 1954 World Basketball Championship in Rio de Janeiro; while the Philippine basketball team, led by Sen. Ambrosio Padilla, finished fifth in the 1932 Berlin Olympic Games.

Amateur boxers Anthony Villanueva and Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco won silver medals in Olympic boxing competitions; sprinter Lydia de Vega was once touted as the “Fastest Runner in Asia,” sharing the spotlight with long jump champion Elma Muros; bowler Paeng Nepomuceno was the only man to win the Bowling World Cup four times, and billiards maestro Efren “Bata” Reyes was recently named by Time magazine as Asia’s top sports hero.

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There were also many other sporting greats in the pre-war years, most of them products of the Far Eastern Games, a biennial meet among the Philippines, China and Japan. The Games were held from 1913 to 1934.

Among the standouts were Regino Ylanan, the first Filipino “strongman” who excelled in the discus throw, shot put and pentathlon; Fortunato Catalon, king of Filipino sprinters; Juan Taduran, the only athlete to win three consecutive decathlon titles, in 1921, 1923 and 1925; and basketball players Jose P. Bengzon, who became a secretary of justice; businessman Vicente Avena, Mariano Sangle and Augusto Bautista. Former Sen. Lorenzo Tañada was a top football player, ditto with Jesus Cacho, Celso Lobregat and Jesus Esteva. Dionisio “Chito” Calvo, the former BAP secretary general and Berlin and London Olympic basketball coach, was a long distance swimmer whose forte was the one-mile swim.

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A forthcoming international dance competition has been registered and subsequently recognized by the Dance Sport Council of the Philippines headed by Becky Garcia.

In fact, DSCP board members-Gloria Alcala and Chona Mercado, who are both International Dance Sport Federation licensed adjudicators, have been invited to judge in the competitions.