For the most part of his coaching career, Yeng Guiao has embraced the role of an underdog, but such label suits the seven-time PBA champion well.
Except maybe during the 1992 season when he won his first PBA championship as coach of Swift, Guiao's team was considered as underdogs.
The 1993 Swift Mighty Meaties team were a formidable squad with Vergel Meneses joining the team at the early stage of the season in a trade involving Andy de Guzman. He proved to be a good fit to the system as he complemented the team's other big star -- Nelson Asaytono -- coupled by the acquisition of an ideal reinforcement in Ronnie Thompkins. Swift defeated corporate rival and equally talented Purefoods in six games of the Commissioner's Cup best-of-seven championship series.
Guiao's triumph with teams from Red Bull and Rain or Shine were probably sweeter because of the fact that his team were barely given a chance to win a crown.
In the 2001 Commissioner's Cup, Red Bull made it to the last dance, but found itself in a warpath with powerhouse San Miguel, then considered a league dynasty. Prior to facing the Beermen, San Miguel had already won five of the last seven tournaments and with a talent-laden squad anchored on then reigning Most Valuable Player Danny Ildefonso, previous Rookie of the Year winner Danny Seigle, a vastly-improved Olsen Racela, up and coming Nic Belasco, big man Dorian Pena and reliable veteran guard Boybits Victoria, the seasoned Beermen were favored to win against an upstart Red Bull squad.
But Guiao utilized his import, Tony Lang, more efficiently while Davonn Harp and Mick Pennisi held their own against their more illustrious counterparts up front while swingmen Lordy Tugade and Junthy Valenzuiela contributed in any which way they can as Red Bull collectively brought down then mighty San Miguel squad.
The following year in the same conference, Red Bull repeated as champion, but not after overcoming internal turmoil surrounding Lang and the management. The NBA veteran was replaced midway the championship series by Sean Lampley. Lang got the boot because of his inconsistent performance, yet despite the import change, Red Bull was still able to pull the rug from under TNT in a grueling seven-game series.
Red Bull's third and last championship as a franchise came in the 2005 Fiesta Conference, but the team had to make another import change, replacing a solid scorer in Queemont Greer with a more efficient inside operator in James Penny, but that proved to be a logical move as the latter was able to establish better chemistry with the local players, allowing the squad to beat an explosive Purefoods Chunkee Giants in six games of the best-of-seven championship series.
When Guiao moved in to coach Rain or Shine, the veteran bench tactician was aware that he was tasked to develop a team that is built for a long haul.
But it wouldn't take long enough for Guiao to turn this young team to becoming a serious title contender and for a six-year stretch, Rain or Shine was able to reach the semifinal round 11 of 13 conferences capped by two championships and six finals runs. Those two championships were achieved with Rain or Shine obviously being labeled as the underdogs.
In the 2011-2012 Governors' Cup, Rain or Shine faced a star-studded B-Meg Llamados team coached by Tim Cone and featured big names like two-time Most Valuable Player James Yap, up and coming star Peter June Simon, Marc Pingris, a young Mark Barroca and an exciting reinforcement in Marqus Blakely.
Rain or Shine paraded a rugged, highly-physical team anchored on Beau Belga and JR Quinahan and the Elasto Painters even became the heavy underdog when Paul Lee was sidelined by a shoulder injury in the best-of-seven championship series, yet the squad willed themselves to victory with the help of import Jamelle Cornley and a relentless troop which relied on solid team play to defeat B-Meg in seven games.
The Elasto Painters were nowhere near the favorite status when they cracked the 2016 Commissioner's Cup finals against Alaska. Parading an import in Pierre Henderson-Niles, who's been averaging less than 10 points per game, the odds were definitely against Rain or Shine, which were battling an Alaska team that has Calvin Abueva,Vic Manuel, reliable guard JVee Casio, Chris Banchero and former Best Import awardee Rob Dozier.
But Guiao and the Elasto Painters did the unthinkable, winning four of six games in the series, to complete yet another upset victory.
That was the last championship run made by Guiao, but little did we know it was also during this year when he was still serving as Representative of the First District of Pampanga that he fought the biggest battle of his career when he brought to the Supreme Court the PSC Law, which mandates the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to remit 5% of their annual gross fo the Philippine Sports Commission for training and benefits of athletes and members of our national team, improvement of facilities and international exposure.
Against all odds, Guiao fought this battle alone in the Congress as none among his colleagues were able to support him. Only a few of them believed Guiao could win the war -- his legal counsel Atty. Jun Guzman, his chief of staff when he was still serving as Congressman, Mon Navarro, and of course, his family.
Since 1992, during the time of then President Fidel V. Ramod, the funds intended for the PSC was slashed and used for intelligence fund and this happened until last year, but Guiao scored an overwhelming victory from the Supreme Court, which ordered PAGCOR and PCSO to remit a total of P33-billion to the PSC, payable in a stretch of 10 years. Aside from the annual budget that the PSC will be getting, which has now increased drastically to P500 million a year, the government sports agency is also set to receive P3 billion every year for the next 10 years.
Guiao was definitely the man of the moment and for now, he is being hailed as the modern day hero for Philippine Sports, yet he knows that in a short period of time, all the things he did which served as a landmark not just for sports in general, but also in setting a good example and used as a case for good governance, will be forgotten.
For Yeng, being forgotten is part of human nature, but the legacy that that he'll leave and the impact he made for our athletes, the men and women behind sports and all the people who would benefit from it, is definitely worth relishing a lifetime. This is momentous victory for Guiao, the ultimate underdog, in scoring his biggest win ever.