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Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Nikko Remigio displays his Pinoy pride wherever he goes, whether it’s catching a pass from Patrick Mahomes or getting hitched in Siargao.
Nikko Remigio will never forget that moment.
Alone with his wife, Filipina track athlete Maureen Schrijvers, on a secluded beach on the mystical island of Siquijor, Nikko suddenly felt a deep connection to his surroundings.
As a wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, Nikko is certainly no stranger to goosebumps-inducing scenarios. After all, this is a guy who practices regularly with Patrick Mahomes and has actually played in a Super Bowl.
But on that day in Siquijor, an island-province in the Visayas long rumored to be an epicenter of witchcraft, Nikko Remigio experienced an epiphany that had him wondering if perhaps there was something magical about the island.
“You know, I actually don’t know,” Remigio told The GAME in an exclusive interview when asked if he believed the stories of witchcraft. “I did have a pretty compelling moment in the water and the way I describe it is like, have you ever watched the movie Avatar with the blue people and how they connect with the Earth?
“I felt like it was my Avatar moment in the Philippines. And I don’t know what it was, but my wife and I, we were just going all around the island, going to different beaches. And we went to one beach and the water was extremely calm and we had gone out into the water and I don’t know what it was, but I just felt so connected to where I was at and so present.
“And it truly was a magical moment for me that I will never forget. And to this day, I feel like Siquijor will always have a place in my heart because of that moment. I can’t describe the emotions, but I just broke down and I started crying in the water and it was a powerful moment for me.
“It was so peaceful. It was a different level of tranquility.”
Going island-hopping
Nikko Remigio has always been adventurous, always seeking new places to visit in his paternal grandparents’ country of birth. Siquijor is just one of several tourist hotspots in the Philippines he and his wife have visited.
He loves to surf, so of course they’ve gone to Siargao. And like Siquijor, he has a connection with the island that will last a lifetime: it’s where he and Maureen exchanged their “I do’s” in a beautiful beach wedding.
El Nido in Palawan was also an easy choice, given that his wife lived there for a year. Nikko immediately fell in love with its natural beauty.
“The rawness of the island, I really appreciate it. I love the rawness of the different islands in the Philippines and areas that are untouched and still very natural and feeling the jungle and how it kind of, how do I explain it? It like hangs over the sea, it’s like one with the sea.
“It’s…I love the islands here,” he said with an expression of calmness on his face. “I love the islands here.”
Such experiences are unique to the beaches of the Philippines, and Nikko knows he is lucky to have Filipino blood. Otherwise he might never have discovered places like Siquijor or Siargao or El Nido.
There is one other place, though, that holds a different meaning for him. The sleepy town of Dumangas in Iloilo may not have a stunning beach or world-class waves, but it’s the hometown of his paternal grandmother, who’s been a major influence on his life for as long as he can remember.
Nikko and Maureen recently visited Dumangas with his lola, and the experience was even more unforgettable than his Avatar moment in Siquijor.
“It was so cool to see the province where my lola grew up,” he said. “Just to see the house that she grew up in, the road that she grew up on and her family, they had a sugar plantation over there.
“It was cool. And I was able to go with her, which was so special for me to be able to see it through her eyes and just get that experience with her.”
Being Filipino
Nikko’s grandmother lives with them in the United States, and she played a major role in instilling traditional Filipino values in her grandchildren.
“I am half-Filipino and growing up, I really grew up Filipino, and even though I was stateside, coming to the Philippines is something so familiar to me because of the way my brothers and I were raised, how we interacted with each other, the food we ate, and everything that that entails.
“I think the big one was just to respect your elders and always taking care of your elders,” he said. “My lola, she lives with us at our house and (she believes in) just never letting your people go astray or get left behind. And always looking after your own and that the number one priority in your life is taking care of your own.”
Like all doting grandmothers, Nikko’s lola always reminds her grandson to be careful, which is a little difficult in his line of work.
“She’s always telling me not to get hurt,” he said with a smile. “And I’m like, I try not to, but that’s all she says.”
Nikko is part of a larger, albeit still relatively small, group of athletes with Filipino blood who have excelled on a global stage. One of them was a distinct part of his childhood and remains his Filipino sports idol to this day.
“Growing up, Manny Pacquiao fighting automatically meant Filipino party. Those were always my favorite growing up. And I would say, Filipino athletes who were inspirations for me growing up, Manny Pacquiao would be the one.”
He’s also keeping an eye on the latest Filipino athlete to achieve global stardom.
“Alex Eala. The tennis player, she’s ballin’.”
Then, he adds, “there’s a skateboarder from Cebu (Margielyn Didal)!”
But when it comes to the NFL, Nikko is one of only a handful of players with Filipino roots, and he takes that distinction seriously.
“To be one of the few that are currently playing at this level, it means the world to me. It’s hard enough to make it to the NFL, period. To be one of the few Filipinos to represent such a marginalized group is huge for me.
“My Filipino roots mean everything to me. I’ve been coming back (to the Philippines) pretty much every year, a few times a year. I’m proud to be Filipino and proud to represent Filipinos on a national stage.”
And Filipinos are just as proud to have someone like Nikko Remigio represent them.
Images from Kieran Punay/KLIQ, Inc.