PHILIPPINE basketball is in a state of mourning just two days into the New Year.
Former Barangay Ginebra gunner and Ateneo De Manila standout Emilio ‘Nonoy’ Chuatico Jr. passed away on Saturday in the US following a long bout with cancer.
He was 55.
Chuatico was a first-round pick of Ginebra in the 1992 PBA draft and played for the league’s most popular ballclub until 1994 before he was traded to Purefoods the following season for fellow Atenean Vince Hizon and a first-round pick.
He averaged 5.0 points in four seasons in the league.
In 1998, he suited up for the Manila Metrostars in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) before retiring from the game for good the following season to concentrate on his business.
Before turning pro, Chuatico enjoyed a decorated career as an amateur.
He was captain of the Blue Eagles team that won the school's first-ever UAAP men’s basketball title in 1987 under coach Cris Calilan
In 1991, he skippered the men’s national team that won the basketball gold in the Manila Southeast Asian where he had for teammates the likes of Vergel Meneses, Johnny Abarrientos, Jun Limpot, Marlou Aquino, Bong Ravena, Boyet Fernandez, among others.
He was later inducted to the Ateneo Hall of Fame.
Chuatico, who was also an avid golfer, was survived by mom Milagros, and siblings Chao Espaldon, Paul and Bido, and daughters Danni, Quita, and Yena.
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