Sans fanfare reserved for top celebrities, Lydia de Vega-Mercado, the Philippines? most famous name in athletics, quietly slipped out of the country last December.
The 40-year-old Mercado, whose phenomenal athletic career in the ?80s made her a modern-day heroine, will now lend her expertise to young Singaporean athletes.
Husband Paolo, a former Meralco engineer who now engages in the fishpond business, confirmed that his wife is now working in the tiny but prosperous nation.
He declined further comment, explaining that the matter is a family affair. ?I?m really sorry but I would rather not discuss it with you. We don?t want to talk about it anymore,? said Mercado.
Even Diay, as De Vega-Mercado is famously called by her fans, did not answer an e-mail sent by the Inquirer. The Mercados claimed they didn?t have Diay?s telephone numbers in Singapore.
Daughter Stephanie, who plays for the De La Salle University varsity volleyball team, admitted she missed her mother. ?She cares for us a lot,? said the 16-year-old Stephanie, a freshman taking up Sports Management at the Taft campus. ?I miss her and our shopping moments.?
Athletics chief Go Teng Kok said Diay?s decision to leave was a private affair. Normally quotable, Go suddenly fell silent when asked to comment further. ?Please ask Diay?s family. I don?t want to be accused of meddling,? he said.
According to veteran sports writer Eddie Alinea, Diay received a lucrative offer from Singapore. ?We can?t blame Diay for leaving,? he said.
Best SEAG product
Philippine Sports Commission chair William ?Butch? Ramirez said there are two ?faces? in Diay?s decision to work in Singapore.
?Lydia, a product of Palarong Pambansa, will be missed a lot as we continue to go into the grassroots level in search of future stars,? Ramirez said.
?The PSC wishes the jewel of athletics all the best as she pursues a career in Singapore. I?m sure that she will gain a lot not only financially but technically as well.?
PSC Commissioner Leon G. Montemayor said it?s natural for everybody to look for greener pastures.
?Diay is a sensible person. I can only speculate that Singapore gave her a good offer. We must respect her decision,? said Montemayor, chair of the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philipines-East Asia Growth Area Friendship Games for the past three years.
Ramirez added the PSC will happily embrace De Vega-Mercado back to the fold if she decides to return. Her last job before her Singaporean stint was as a PSC consultant.
Alinea has followed De Vega-Mercado?s career since Day One. He said Diay had standing offers from three private Singaporean schools to handle athletics since last year.
?She is the most illustrious product of the Southeast Asian Games.
?She?s most beloved by our neighbors,? Alinea noted. ?Remember also that she recorded memorable triumphs in Singapore.?
The prestigious Philippines Sports Association composed of the country?s sportswriters picked Diay as Athlete of the Year in 1981, ?86 and ?87 and inducted her to the Hall of Fame alongside the likes of basketball legends Carlos Loyzaga and Lauro Mumar and fellow trackster Mona Sulaiman.
A product of the Palarong Pambansa, Diay burst into prominence when she ran to victories in the 200-meter and 400-meter runs in the 1981 Southeast Asian Games at the Rizal Memorial Track and Field Stadium.
An affair with Singapore
The double-gold performance triggered an avalanche of sterling golden performances not only in the biennial Games but on a bigger and tougher stage like the Asian Games.
The pony-tailed, charming lass from Meycauyan, Bulacan had the nation enthralled when she ran like a gazelle, becoming Asia?s fastest woman by winning the century dash in the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games and again four years later in the Seoul Asiad.
She also represented the country in two Olympic Games?1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul.
In the SEAG, Diay?s love affair with Singapore started in 1983 when she kept her 200-meter title. She cemented her reign as the SEAG?s best by ruling the 100-m dash in the 1987 Jakarta Games.
Although she faltered in the 1989 Kuala Lumpur event, Diay ran straight into the arms of an adoring public as she won back the title in the 1991 Manila SEAG at the ecstatic Rizal Memorial Track and Field Complex.
Singapore continued to fall in love with Diay as the Filipina sprinter surged to victory in the century dash in the 1993 SEAG on top of adding the 200 m gold.
The nation cried with Diay in mourning the unfortunate death of her 4-year-old son John Michael in 2001. John was bumped by a jeepney near their house in Project 4, Quezon City.
