ON All Saints' Day, as we remember and our dearly departed, let's take time to honor former PBA players who had gone too soon.
Gilbert Bulawan
The 6-5 big man is on record as the first player to die while in a PBA team's active roster. On July 3, 2016, Bulawan died at the age of 29 after collapsing in a Blackwater practice at the SGS Gym in Quezon City. He was rushed to the Capitol Medical Center where efforts to revive the former San Sebastian player failed. Bulawan was a second-round pick in the 2011 PBA Rookie Draft who had stints with Meralco and Barako before joining Blackwater in a journeyman career.
Terry Saldana
Saldana, a talented and ferocious scorer who led a troubled life after basketball, passed away on Feb. 1, 2023 at the age of 64. The cause of death was listed as a lingering kidney ailment, but the former PBA star had long struggled with all sorts of illness in his late years. Months before his death, a friend shared a photo on social media showing Saldana in a wheelchair, his feet swollen to twice their size, apparently because of gangrene. Friends, including fellow PBA greats, pitched in. But when healthy and in prime, he was one of the best scoring big men and low-post operators the PBA had ever seen. Injuries and issues surrounding his personal life led to him becoming a journeyman after his stay at Ginebra, suiting up for other teams like Alaska, Swift, Formula Shell, Gordon’s Gin, Batangas Blades in the MBA and Batang Red Bull. In those stints, he won two championships with Swift during the 1992 Third Conference and 1993 Commissioner’s Cup, respectively, and one in his reunion with Jaworski at Gordon's Gin in the 1997 Commissioner's Cup.
Rey Cuenco
PBA fans of the ‘80s and early ‘90s will remember Rey Cuenco as an intimidating presence in the paint who blossomed under the guidance of Ginebra coach Robert Jaworski. The 6-4 big man from Pampanga was also picked No.1 overall in the PBA by Alaska but would see his best years with the Ginebra franchise, earning him the PBA Most Improved Player award in 1990. He would also see action in the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing. A liver ailment would claim his life six years later. He was 36 at the time of his death.
Ricric Marata
A nine-year veteran of the PBA, Ricardo 'Ric-Ric' Marata is fondly remembered as a smiling spitfire from Iligan City. The 5-7 point guard played 397 games for five franchises in the PBA. After retiring in 1997, the uncle of Ayrus Baguio migrated to the US with his family. In 2010, the 45-year old Marata died from complications after intestinal surgery.
Emmanuel 'Boybits' Victoria
Victoria, an athletic guard who developed a mean three-point shot late in his career, died of a heart attack on March 1, 2023 at the age of 50. He won Rookie of the Year honors in 1994 after a splendid college career at San Beda which led to him being picked third overall by Swift in the PBA draft. Victoria played for the RFM franchise until 1998 when he was traded to San Miguel, where he’ll play a back-up role to Olsen Racela in the Beermen’s successful run from 1999 to 2001. Years before his death, the former national player spent weeks in a hospital after being diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder.
Rudy Enterina
A former first-round pick of Purefoods, Enterina died on April 29, 2023 when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a trailer truck at the South Road Properties in his hometown of Cebu. He had a brief PBA career after being picked No. 6 overall by the Hotdogs but is a legend in Cebu where he starred for the University of Visayas and other commercial teams based in the South.
Dong Polistico
Polistico, a bruising center who won PBA championships with Alaska and San Miguel, died of a heart attack on August 10, 2022. The 6-7 Polistico was picked fourth overall by Alaska in the 1988 PBA Rookie Draft and played nine seasons in the league with the Milk Kings and Beermen. He was part of Alaska's first-ever champion team in the 1991 Third Conference and later became part of the Philippine team put together by Norman Black for the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima. The former Letran center played for Welcoat in the PBL and briefly with the Iloilo Megavoltz in the MBA before retiring in 2000.
Joey Mente
Mente is best remembered as an unheralded player who shot to fame with his acrobatic and high-wire acts on the way to becoming an unlikely PBA slam dunk champion. The high-flying guard, a first-round pick of the Beermen (10th overall) in the 2001 PBA draft, was back in his native Samar where he’s been undergoing chemotherapy when he died at the age of 42. Mente played for the Beermen from 2001 to 2005 and was part of the team that won the championship of the 2001 All-Filipino and 2005 Fiesta Cups. Mente was slam champion in the pro league in 2001, but even before that, he already built a reputation for his high-wire acts during his college years at Lyceum, and later in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) with the Iloilo Megavoltz. Following his stint with San Miguel, Mente played for three more years with Welcoat (now Rain or Shine) from 2006 to 2008.
Cris Bolado
Bolado spent most of his PBA career as a back-up slotman, but is best remembered for the nine PBA championships he won with Alaska, No wonder that Bolado was considered a lucky charm. A second-round pick (13th overall) by Alaska in the 1994 draft, Bolado won seven straight conference championships, from the Governors Cup during his rookie season all the way to the 1997 Commissioner's Cup. He was with Alaska from 1994 to 1996 and bagged five consecutive titles with the team, including the grand slam in 1996. He also was part of Purefoods' champion team in the 1997 All-Filipino shortly after his transfer. The 6-foot-7 former National University standout died in a motorcycle accident in September 2017 in Phnom Penh, where he had been travelling back and forth after opening a restaurant business there named Inasal Nation: Home of authentic chicken inasal. He was 47.
Joey Ocampo
Ocampo was a little-known lefty, 6-foot-1 guard from PSBA who suited up for Tefilin in the 80s and was a member of the Philippine national pool for the 1978 World Championships which the country hosted. He died in his sleep last April 12, 2021 at the age of 68. Close friends he passed away poor and alone in his abode in San Lazaro, Manila. Ocampo, according to neighbor and colleague Leopoldo Mendoza, had been sick for a long time prior to his death. Ocampo was a pass-first playmaker who had an accurate outside shot, qualities that endeared him to his late college coach Nic Jorge, the former Philippine men’s basketball team mentor and founder of the MILO Best.
Arnie Tuadles
Arnie Tuadles was a familiar name to longtime PBA fans. The 6-2 combo forward was Rookie of the Year in 1979 with Toyota. He was one of the original names of the Alaska Milkmen. In 1990, he became the first player to win two PBA championships with two different teams in one season, winning a title for Shell before shifting to Presto in the middle of the Second Conference. He spent 13 seasons in the PBA, suiting up for seven teams. After retiring in 1992, Tuadles tried his hand at politics and business with little success. In a much-publicized case, Tuadles was murdered at age 40 by Games and Amusement Board (GAB) chairman Ambet Antonio during a card game in 1996.
Jack Tanuan
A former Purefoods center and the No. 1 overall selection 1988 PBA draft out of Far East University, Edgardo 'Jack' Tanuan had a long and successful career both in the college and PBA ranks. He was only 36 years old when he succumbed to a lingering kidney disease, only five years removed from the 6-5 center’s last pro campaign with the Alaska Milkmen.
Bryan Gahol
A former PBA player and UP Maroons star, Bryan Gahol had a six-year stint in the pros that was hampered by injuries, resulting in a journeyman career with four different teams. He successfully ran for councilor in Laguna in 2010. In 2014, Gahol was driving a passenger van on the South Luzon Expressway en route to a wake when it figured in a multiple vehicle collision. He and a female passenger were killed in the ensuing accident. He was 37 years old.
Gido Babilonia
Gido Babilonia saw action for a number of good teams. After helping the University of Santo Tomas dominate in the UAAP, the 6-6 center mostly was a steady backup for the likes of stars Benjie Paras and Jerry Codinera in his 10-year PBA career. He also played in briefly in the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA). His professional career ended after 12 seasons after being diagnosed with a heart condition. In January 2007, the University of the East assistant coach was rushed to hospital after complaining of chest pains. The 40-year old Babilonia died after two days from a pulmonary blood clot rupture.
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