1HE ONE | Jesson Ramil Cid: Pinoy Decathlon Gold Medalist – 27th SEA Games

Jesson Ramil Cid, a native of Barangay Suyo, Dingras, Ilocos Norte, was one of the country’s four rookie athletes who won a gold medal in his sports discipline in the 27th Southeast Asian (ASEAN) Games in Myanmar last December 2013.

In men’s decathlon, Cid amassed 7,038 points over the 10 events to outclass seven-man filed and win the gold.

A decathlon is composed of 10 track-and-field athletic events: 100 meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meter dash, 110 meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin, and 1,500 meter run.

He set a new record of 7,038 points in the field, breaking the previous record of 6,963 points set 12 years ago by another Filipino decathlete Fidel “Toto” Gallenero.

Cid’s feat awarded him the title of “New Iron Man” by the SEA Games.

He first tried basketball when he was young.

The 21-year old decathlete was a star at the Ilocos Region Athletic Association (IRAA) meets.

Cid competed in high jump and long jump with modest success as a high school student.

He played for Far Eastern University and reigned over athletic events at the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) for five years.

During his final year, Cid won the 200 and 400 meters and men’s long jump apart from helping his team win the 4 x 100-meter relay. He was later named Most Valuable Player (MVP).

This son of a high school principal and a school staff obtained an education degree in October.

The Philippines finished its bid at 7th place out of 11 nations with 29 gold medals, 34 silver and 37 bronze medals, behind Singapore.

His brother Anthony Carlo and sister Maurin Ylla Angeli are also into sports. They got their interest in sports from their father who played football and baseball.

He plans to improve his performance in pole vault and throwing events.

Cid is setting his eyes to represent the Philippines in the Olympics.

“I am happy that I have represented Philippines during the 27^thSEA Games, but I still need to work hard to join bigger competitions. I will not stop, instead I will work hard and pray, and hopefully someday, I can compete in the Olympics.”

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Paul Michael JaramilloChief Executive Editor

PJ is a Certified Public Accountant, writer, storyteller, and an advocate for youth empowerment and environmental protection. His passion for storytelling and social impact has taken many forms—from writing thought-provoking articles on national development, featured in a Spanish newspaper and Rappler, to producing documentaries on mining and environmental issues that aired on ABS-CBN News and GMA News.

A proud Ilocano and graduate of Northwestern University, PJ earned his degree in Accountancy then passed the CPA licensure exam in 2015. That same year, he began his professional career at KPMG in the Philippines. As an external auditor, he handled a diverse portfolio of clients, including a global workspace provider (the largest audit engagement of KPMG Philippines), a global bank, a major FMCG player, and several shared service centers.

His commitment to innovation was evident early in his career. PJ and his team won the KPMG Asia-Pacific Data & Analytics Challenge and later coached the Philippine team to a top-three finish at the KPMG GlobalRunner Cup. He went on to lead KPMG Philippines' Network of Audit Innovators and Data & Analytics Champions, as well as its academic arm. He was an active contributor to the Asia-Pacific Audit Digital Transformation Workstream and a member of both the Audit Methodology Group and the Root Cause Analysis Team. Beyond technical excellence, PJ is deeply committed to learning and leadership. He was a regular training facilitator on audit methodology, professional standards, and emerging tools in data and analytics. He also served as the Firm’s System of Quality Management (SoQM) Implementation Manager and one of its Workforce of the Future Champions.

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Today, PJ brings his passion and expertise to the Middle East, South Asia, and Caspian regions as part of KPMG’s Professional Practice and Audit Learning & Development team. In this role, he contributes to audit methodology advancement and learning strategy across the Middle East Cluster.

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