Competitive swimming Eric ventured into swimming not because he dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal, but because of his doctor's advice to improve his lungs. Eric was born with primary lung complex. He enrolled in a two-week swimming program at the age of seven. Yet his training was breached by another illness,
hepatitis. However, this didn't stop him; a year later he was training again and taking the advance course in swimming, the competitive course, at age nine. It was at this age that he got into the varsity swimming team of
De La Salle Santiago Zobel School and vowed to win a gold medal in the sport. By 1981, he was a member of the Philippine Team and swam in the 400-meter individual medley at age eleven. But it was in his first
Southeast Asian Games in
1985, held in
Bangkok,
Thailand, where he snatched the gold in the same category at the age of fifteen. He participated in the
1988 Summer Olympics and was also chosen as the country's flag bearer for the opening ceremonies. In the
1989 Southeast Asian Games in
Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, Buhain broke one of the existing SEA Games swimming records. In the
1991 Southeast Asian Games, where the
Philippines was the host, he made a huge contribution to the gold medal record of the host country by winning most of the events in swimming. He was chosen to represent the Philippines in the
1992 Summer Olympics. He didn't win any medals in that sporting event. Even though he won several gold medals in the
1993 Southeast Asian Games, Buhain decided to retire from his swimming career. He was disappointed by the poor government management that led to a mediocre performance of the Philippines team in that sporting event.
Sports administration Buhain spent his early career in sport administration as the national training director of the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (PASA) and president of the Professional Swimming Coaches Academy of the Philippines (ProSCAP). In 2023, Buhain was elected as general secretary of Philippine Swimming (later
Philippine Aquatics)
Politics In the
2022 elections, Buhain is a candidate for
representative of
Batangas' 1st district, the seat his wife is scheduled to vacate. He ran against his sister-in-law, Lisa Ermita, and won. He sought re-election in
2025, but lost to
Leandro Leviste. He is being implicated in the anomalous flood control projects in his district during his term. ==Personal life==