Ronald Mascariñas, as a Filipino you make me cry happily;
Teófilo Yldefonso, as an Ilocano, you make me proud doubly!
Thursday, 02 September 2021, this was the title of Chooks-To-Go President Ronaldo Mascariñas’ Facebook sharing[1]: “Chooks-To-Go Honors PH First Olympic Medalist And War Hero Teófilo Yldefonso By Giving Back To Kin.” The 726-word tribute happily & proudly relates of Teófilo Yldefonso’s (TY’s) Olympic records (plural), and World War 2 selfless heroism. Thus, Mr Mascariñas says of TY:
Chooks-to-Go is posthumously honoring the first Filipino Olympic medalist and war hero, Teófilo Yldefonso, with a perpetual supply of 100 oven-roasted chickens every month. The grant, to continue for as long as the business is alive, shall be given to his great-great-grandson, Raul Yldefonso, the designated representative of his surviving heirs.
Double Wow:
TY's exploits were unprecedented;
Mr Mascariñas’ tribute-gift is unparalleled!
(And yes, Chooks-to-Go chickens are unequalled, not only in their roasted goodness, but most especially because they are raised without antibiotics or growth hormones; they are organic, unlike others.)
Though the memory of Yldefonso continues to live on in history books, his legacy does not have the same recall as modern-day sports heroes.
Yldefonso was the country's first-ever Olympic medalist, winning bronze in the 200m breaststroke event of the 1928 Summer Games in Amsterdam. He repeated the feat four years later in Los Angeles as he became known as the "Ilocano Shark" and "The Father of the Modern Breaststroke."
He was the Philippines’ first-ever Olympic medal winner, 1928. And he was a soldier.
During World War 2, he and his men under the 5thInfantry Regiment of the Philippine Scouts of the US Army, were captured in Bataan by a Japanese army group, whose leader was Reizo Koike, who earlier in the 1936 Olympics became his friend. Now his friend was advising him to escape, leave his men behind, but he said “No.” He died in the Japanese concentration camp; he was 38.
TY’s hometown Piddig, Ilocos Norte, did honor him with a bust standing on top of a hill; today, only a marker remains.
Up until this day, Raul and the Yldefonso clan are still fighting to keep the memories of their great-great-grandfather alive so that the next generations will remember his heroism.
Raul hopes (the) Chooks-to-Go’s initiative to honor Teófilo will generate support for this cause.
I say that TY’s was double heroism, one in international sports, and the other in international relations. This is highly unusual, and the life of TY should be doubly celebrated. To help start the ball rolling, I could write a book on him and his family if someone would finance the interviews & research. Note: As a full-blooded Ilocano, I don’t need a translator.
Mr Mascariñas says that Raul has decided to share Chooks-To-Go’s gift chickens with the poor folks of the town of Piddig. “This is their way of sharing their blessings to the community that embraced Teófilo Yldefonso as (its) own.”
That is the 3rd Yldefonso heroism, which Chooks-To-Go has duly encouraged: “You share your blessings with others!”@517
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