Agustina Bantiloc

Lore & Background

Bantiloc began her athletic career in powerlifting in 2003, winning a bronze at the ASEAN Para Games that year in Vietnam. She shifted to para-archery in 2011 after being convinced by archery coach Arthur Tampua, and trained under national para-archery coach John Hongitan. She competed in the 2011 and 2014 ASEAN Para Games, winning bronze medals in both. She was disqualified from the 2015 edition due to technicalities regarding her wheelchair. At the 2019 ASEAN Para Games in Surakarta, she won a bronze with Marcel Burgos in the mixed compound event. She also competed at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou.

Bantiloc qualified for the 2024 Summer Paralympics via a bipartite invitation after meeting the qualifying standard of 652 points at the 2022 Asian Para Games. She trained under Jonathan Josol in preparation for Paris. At age 55, she was the oldest member of the Philippine delegation. In the open ranking round she scored 618, her season best, but placed last among 28 competitors. She faced fifth seed Jane Karla Gögel of Brazil in the round of 32 and lost 127–143, ending her campaign.

Bantiloc is a wheelchair user, having acquired her disability at age six when she fractured her pelvic bone. She has three children and is associated with Baguio and Tanudan, Kalinga.

Reader's Guide

Agustina Bantiloc's career illustrates a multi-sport trajectory common among para-athletes who transition between disciplines. Starting in powerlifting in 2003, she shifted to para-archery in 2011 and achieved consistent podium finishes at the ASEAN Para Games, earning bronze medals in 2011, 2014, and 2019. Her disqualification in 2015 over wheelchair technicalities highlights the regulatory challenges faced by athletes using adaptive equipment. Her qualification for the 2024 Paralympics via bipartite invitation, after meeting the standard at the 2022 Asian Para Games, underscores the importance of regional competitions as pathways to the Paralympics. As the oldest member of the Philippine delegation and a flagbearer, she represents longevity and dedication in Philippine para-sports. Her loss in the round of 32 to Jane Karla Gögel does not diminish the significance of her reaching the Paralympics at age 55, a milestone for Filipino para-archery.

Did You Know?

• Bantiloc first took up powerlifting in 2003 before shifting to para-archery in 2011.
• She was disqualified from the 2015 ASEAN Para Games due to technicalities regarding her wheelchair.
• At the 2024 Paralympics, she was the oldest competitor in the Philippine delegation at 55 years old.
• She was one of two flagbearers for the Philippines at the 2024 Paralympics opening ceremony, alongside swimmer Ernie Gawilan.

From the Platform to the Target: A Sport Switch That Shaped a Career

Agustina Bantiloc's athletic path did not begin with a bow. In 2003, she first took up powerlifting, a discipline she would later set aside when archery coach Arthur Tampua persuaded her to try para-archery. That pivotal switch came in 2011, the same year she began training under John Hongitan, who has served as the national coach for Philippine para-archery since then. Her international debut in the new sport arrived at the 2011 ASEAN Para Games, and she returned for the 2014 edition, collecting a bronze medal in each appearance. The 2015 cycle, however, ended in frustration: a technicality concerning the type of wheelchair she used led to her disqualification before she could compete. Undeterred, Bantiloc kept competing, claiming another bronze at the 2019 ASEAN Para Games in Surakarta, this time partnering with Marcel Burgos in the mixed compound event. Her 2022 appearance at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou would prove to be a career-defining moment, setting the stage for what was to come.

Paris 2024: Flagbearer, Veteran, and Final Stand

Bantiloc's qualification for the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris came through a bipartite invitation, a pathway made possible after she met the required standard of 652 points at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou. In the run-up to the French Games, she trained under Jonathan Josol. At 55 years old, she was the oldest member of the Philippine delegation, and the organizers honored her with a prominent role: she carried the national flag in the opening ceremony alongside swimmer Ernie Gawilan. In competition, Bantiloc posted a season-best 618 points in the open ranking round. Yet that score placed her last among the 28 archers in the field, drawing her a matchup with fifth seed Jane Karla Gögel of Brazil in the round of 32. The contest ended 143–127 in Gögel's favor, closing out Bantiloc's Paralympic campaign. Still, reaching Paris at 55, walking the field as a flagbearer, and competing on the world's biggest para-sport stage marked a culmination of more than two decades of dedication to the sport.

Powerlifting Roots: The Sport That Started It All

Before she ever drew a bow, Agustina Bantiloc was a powerlifter. She took up the sport in 2003, and that same year she made her international debut at the ASEAN Para Games held in Vietnam. Competing as a powerlifter, she earned a bronze medal, a result that announced her on the regional para-sport scene. Her powerlifting career continued for several years, and she later competed at the 2018 Philspada Para National Games, demonstrating that her strength on the platform remained a part of her athletic identity well into her thirties. The 2003 bronze in Vietnam was, in many ways, the foundation upon which her entire competitive career was built. It proved that a young woman from the Cordillera region of the Philippines could compete at the highest regional level in a physically demanding discipline. Though she would eventually shift her focus to archery in 2011, the powerlifting years gave her the competitive confidence and physical discipline that carried through every subsequent sport she pursued.

Life Beyond the Competition: A Cordillera Athlete's Journey

Agustina Maximo Bantiloc was born on August 8, 1968, and her life has been shaped by both adversity and community. She acquired her disability at the age of six after fracturing her pelvic bone, a childhood event that meant she would navigate the world as a wheelchair user for the rest of her life. Despite that early challenge, she went on to raise three children and to establish deep roots in the Cordillera highlands, being associated with both Baguio City and Tanudan in the province of Kalinga. Her journey from a six-year-old child dealing with a fractured pelvis to a 55-year-old flagbearer at the Paris Paralympics is a testament to a lifetime of perseverance. She is a mother, a community member in the northern Philippines, and a multi-sport athlete who competed in powerlifting, para-archery, and para-athletics over the course of more than two decades. Her story is one of quiet, sustained determination rather than a single dramatic moment.