Virgilio Lobregat

Virgilio Lobregat (born 23 May 1901) was a Filipino sportsman who is best known as a football player. He competed for the Philippines national football team at the Far Eastern Games. During World War II, he fought the Japanese as a guerrilla under Juan Miguel Elizalde, and was beheaded on August 1944 along with Elizalde and 70 other prisoners at the Manila North Cemetery.

Virgilio Lobregat
Born	(1901-05-23)23 May 1901 Spain
Died	30 August 1944(1944-08-30) (aged 43) Manila, Philippines
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Association football career Playing position(s) Center Forward Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) – Bohemian – Manila Nomads – Casino Español National team 1925 Philippines * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
Military career
Allegiance	Philippine Commonwealth
Years of service	Until 1944
Battles/wars	Japanese occupation of the Philippines (World War II)

Early life and education

Lobregat was born in Spain on May 23, 1901[1] and moved with his family to the Philippine Islands in 1904.[2]

Lobregat first attended the La Salle Nozaleda in second grade. He graduated from La Salle high school in 1918.[3]

Sporting career

Football

Lobregat is often regarded as the best Filipino player in the pre-World War II period after Paulino Alcántara. He played for the Bohemians helping the club win the National Open Championship five times. He was still in his teenage years when he first became part of the club.[2] He also played for the Manila Nomads and Casino Español de Manila, and later for the Philippines national team at the 1925 Far Eastern Games.[2]

Others

Aside from football he also played basketball as a 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) center and played baseball as well as a home run batter. He was also a track and field athlete and competed as a long distance runner and high jumper. He also won the pentathlon and decathlon events during the initial years of the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Federation.[3]

Other involvements

Lobregat became a member of the De La Salle Alumni Association in 1920 and served as its president from 1930 to 1932[3] At some point in his life he would become the Vice President of the Elizalde Group of Companies, a post he would serve until his death.[2]

World War II, death and legacy

He fought the Japanese during World War II as a guerrilla under Juan Miguel Elizalde.[3] Lobregat also served as a spy. He was detained at Fort Santiago by the Japanese as a prisoner of war and was beheaded on August 1944.[4] along with Elizalde and 70 other prisoners at the Manila North Cemetery.[2] According to his grave also at the same cemetery, Lobregat died on August 30, 1944.[1]

Lobregat along with basketball player Jacinto Cruz and swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso was named Outstanding Athletes of Half-A-Century by the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation.[5] He was also named as the "Football Player of the Half Century" in the 1970s by the Philippine Football Association.[2] A football field in Makati where a statue of Benigno Aquino Jr. is situated, and [5] the Lobregat Cup, a football tournament held from the late 1940s to 1970s was named in honor of him.[2]

References

1. Virgilio Lobregat at Find a Grave
2. Olivarez, Rick; Ramirez, Bert (2016). "Glory Days:We Owe Them (chapter authors)". Philippine Football: Its Past, Its Future. By Villegas, Bernardo. University of Asia and the Pacific. p. 86. ISBN 978-621-8002-29-6.
3. "Lobregat, Virgilio". De La Salle Alumni Association. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
4. "Names L". Filipinos WW11 US Military Service. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
5. Alinea, Eddie (8 June 2014). "Sports Heroes who displayed true heroism during the war". Manila Standard Sports. Retrieved 4 January 2017.