Olympic boxing bronze medalist Leopoldo Serantes died Wednesday morning at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.
He was 59 years old.
Serantes paved the path for the Philippines' resurgence in Olympic boxing by claiming a bronze medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. His win ended the country's almost quarter-century medal drought after fellow boxer Anthony Villanueva had copped silver in the 1964 Tokyo Games.
After the light-flyweight's breakthrough, Roel Velasco followed suit with another bronze in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and his younger brother Mansueto 'Onyok' Velasco snared silver in the 1996 Atlanta Games.
"The country will always remember Serantes for the honor and joy he brought to the country as an Olympic medalist," Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) president Ricky Vargas said in a statement.
"We are saddened by his passing."
Serantes had been hospitalized since Aug. 21, with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Daughter Leodelia told ABAP that things took a turn for the worse Tuesday afternoon, and the Olympic medalist passed away at 8 a.m. the next day.
Serantes is survived by six children.
His wife died in Sept. 2019.
Prior to his Olympic conquest, Serantes rose to prominence in the late 1980s as one of the premier amateur Filipino fighters, having won gold medals in the 1985 and 1987 Southeast Asian Games.
Last July, he and nine other Filipino sporting heroes were recognized by the Philippine Sports Commission as Hall of Famers.