TODAY'S PROMISING FILIPINOS

TODAY'S PROMISING FILIPINOS  

Lea Salonga-Chien

LEA SALONGA-CHIEN

Lea Salonga-Chien (born February 22, 1971) is a mezzo-soprano singer and actress from the Philippines well known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World awards. She was the first Asian to play the roles of Éponine and Fantine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway. She also provided the singing voice of two official Disney Princesses: Jasmine in Aladdin (1992), and Fa Mulan in Mulan (1998) and Mulan II (2004). Salonga was named a Disney Legend in 2011 for her work at the company.     
       

Lydia de Vega

LYDIA DE VEGA  

  Lydia de Vega-Mercado (born December 12, 1964) is a former athlete from the Philippines, was considered Asia's fastest woman in the 1980s. As Asia's sprint queen, she ran away with the gold medal in the 100-meter dash in the 1982 New Delhi Asiad and duplicated the feat in the 1986 Seoul Asiad where she was clocked 11.53 seconds. She also brought home a silver medal in the 200-meter race from the 1986 Seoul Asiad. De Vega-Mercado also won the gold in the 100 meters at the Southeast Asian Games (1987, 1991 and 1993). She has twice won both the 100 and 200 meter golds in the Asian Athletics Championships - 1983 and 1987. She holds the Philippine record with her personal best of 11.28 seconds. Diay, as she is fondly called by her countrymen was a two-time Olympian, having carried the country's colors in the 1984 (Los Angeles) and 1988 (Seoul) Olympics. De Vega now serves as a councilor of her native Meycauayan town in Bulacan province. Currently, she is coaching schools and private athletes in Singapore.

Manny Pacquiao

 EMMANUEL MANNY PACQUIAO

Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao,(born December 17, 1978) is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first eight-division world champion; having won six world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes.  He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000s by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). He is also a three-time The Ring and BWAA "Fighter of the Year", winning the award in 2006, 2008, and 2009.

Currently, Pacquiao is the WBO Welterweight Champion. He is also rated as the best pound for pound boxer in the world by some sporting news and boxing websites, including The Ring, BoxRec.com and Sporting Life.

Aside from boxing, Pacquiao has participated in acting, music recording, and politics. In May 2010, Pacquiao was elected to the House of Representatives in the 15^th Congress of the Philippines, representing the province of Sarangani.         
 

Efren "Bata" Reyes

EFREN “BATA”REYES

     Efren “Bata” Reyes, nicknamed “The Magician,” was born on August 26, 1954 in Pampanga, Philippines. At the young age of five, Efren began working in his uncle’s pool room in Manila. He could even be found sleeping on the table at times, so he could get to playing right when he woke up. He picked up skills from the players, good and bad, and taught himself to make even the toughest shots. These skills have been perfected and earned him his nickname, due to the magic he works on the table when the odds are stacked against him. He has taken titles in the World Cup, International 9-Ball Tournament, and World 9-Ball Open; he led his team to victory in the World Team Billiards, and internationally took the gold medal in the Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Games. Efren is a champion in the 1995 Pro-Tour Championship and PBT World 8-Ball, in 1999 he won the ESPN Ultimate Challenge and the WPA World 9-Ball Championship, in 2001 he conquered Masters 9-Ball and in 2002 was the Challenge of the Champions winner. Efren was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame in 2003, and remains the most lethal weapon in pool today.

Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno

RAFAEL “PAENG" NEPOMUCENO

Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno of the Philippines is a six time World Bowling Champion and is widely acknowledged as the greatest international bowler of all time.

He is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records and has three unbroken records up to this date.

Paeng has been bowling since he was 12, winning his first major tournament at 15, and his first Bowling World Cup at 19, achieving a rare Grand Slam by winning the Philippine Open, Asian Championships and the Bowling World Cup in a span of 5 months in 1976.

Paeng currently still actively competes, enjoying being able to compete against bowling athletes many who are half his age, and has the honor of still being able to represent his country at international competitions.

Paeng truly is an ambassador for his sport and promotes bowling wherever he goes - giving clinics, exhibitions and personal appearances.         
 

Lisa Macuja

LISA MACUJA-ELIZALDE

Lisa Teresita Pacheco Macuja-Elizalde (born on October 3, 1964) is a Prima Ballerina. She is the first Philippine ballerina, and first foreign soloist who ever joined the Kirov Ballet in 1984. In the Philippines, she is the Artistic Director of Ballet Manila and Vice-Chairman of the Philippine UNESCO National Commission. She was also the Commissioner of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women. Macuja-Elizalde is also Directress and faculty member of the Ballet Manila School – a training center for ballet professionals who are steeped in the Russian Vaganova method.
         

Cecile Licad

CECILE LICAD

Cecile Buencamino Licad is a classical and concert pianist. Considered a virtuoso, she is the first Filipina pianist to win in an international competition. Cecile Buencamino Licad-Meneses was born in Manila, Philippines to a musical family, she began her piano studies at the age of three from her mother, Rosario Licad. She later studied with the highly regarded Rosario Picazo, and by the age of seven, made her debut as a soloist with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. At the age of twelve, Cecile moved to the United States to study at the Curtis Institute of Music with three of the greatest performers/pedagogues: Rudolf Serkin, Seymour Lipkin and Mieczyslaw Horszowski.

Cecile won international recognition as one of the youngest musicians to ever receive the prestigious Leventritt Competition Gold Medal. Her triumph in 1981 launched her international career performing with major orchestras in the world.Her recording of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 2, with André Previn conducting the London Philharmonic, was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque Frederic Chopin in 1985, in the piano and orchestra works category by the Fryderyk Chopin Society, Warsaw, Poland.

Cecile Licad's repertoire as a solo performer and an orchestral soloist ranges from the classical repertoire of Mozart and Beethoven to the Romantic literature of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Rachmaninoff to the modern works of Debussy, Ravel, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Bartók.