A PRIOR commitment prevented Ramon Fernandez, considered as one of the greatest players ever in the PBA, from attending Friday's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the league.
Fernandez served as a principal sponsor in a wedding just outside Cebu City where he is based on the night the PBA marked the league's 50th year with a gala night at the Solaire Resort North last Friday.
Fernandez was involved in the league's celebration was also part of the selection committee that selected the 10 new members of the Greatest Players.
READ PBA Greatest Players absent from 50th-anniversary gala night
"I truly wanted to be there for the event and deeply regret not being able to attend," Fernandez said. "I had a long-standing commitment to stand as principal sponsor at the wedding of the son of a close family friend. The celebration took place outside Cebu City, and it’s something I had committed to as early as last year."
Fernandez is very much part of the rich history of the PBA, having won four MVPs that tied him with Alvin Patrimonio, next only to the record eight of June Mar Fajardo.
But Fernandez promised that he will be present in the celebration of the league's 50th season on October 5.
"That said, I’m very much looking forward to joining everyone on October 5. That's a promise I made to Com Willie Marcial and the rest of the selection committee and one I fully intend to keep," Fernandez said.
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PBA MVP Vergel Meneses was among those who didn't show up during the presentation of the PBA 50 Greatest Players over the weekend.
Meneses, 56, is running for a third term as mayor of Bulakan, Bulacan, and has been busy on the campaign trail with less than a month before the May 12 national elections.
According to the camp of the 'Aerial Voyager,' the PBA star turned public official had to attend a caucus among all the mayors of Luzon at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga on the same day of the PBA gala night.
A SPIN.ph source said Meneses called up PBA commissioner Willie Marcial to let him know in advance that he couldn’t make it to the April 11 grand event.
“Nagkausap sila ni Com through video call, and sinabi niya nga na hindi siya available sa araw na yun,” said the same source.
Meneses, however, promised to be there come October, saying he is excited to reunite with former teammates including Abe King - a former teammate at Presto.
Perhaps, the same is true for other members of the Greatest Players club who are also running for a public office, such as James Yap (San Juan councilor) and Philip Cezar (San Juan mayor).
But Danny Ildefonso, who is seeking a council seat in Urdaneta, Pangasinan, was able to make it, so did former PBA player Calvin Tuadles (Danao City, Cebu), who represented his late brother Arnie Tuadles.
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ABE King may not be around during the league's 50th anniversary, but he made sure to see the festivities even for a moment.
King is based in the United States, and couldn't make the flight to Manila to attend the gala night to celebrate the 50th year at the Solaire North in Quezon City last Friday.
But King caught a glimpse of the event after a video call with Allan Caidic at the tailend of the ceremony that also inducted him to the PBA's Greatest Players.
READ Abe King the first unanimous pick in Greatest list, says Andy Jao
King also had a chance to talk to PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, who invited him in the October 5 event to celebrate the league's 50th Season.
Dante Silverio, his coach at Toyota during King's playing days, and Caidic, his teammate at Great Taste, received the award on King's behalf.
Like King, many of the US-based players on the PBA Greatest list are making plans to come home in October, when the league opens its 50th season with a reunion of former and current players.
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Meanwhile, TNT main man Jayson Castro showed up at for the big event held at the grand ballroom of Solaire Resort North.
The 38-year-old guard though, didn’t opt to sit on the front row where all members of the Greatest Players are required to be seated.
The humble player that he is, Castro instead joined his TNT teammates in the team’s designated table situated just behind the television panel.
When it was time to acknowledge the first 40 Greatest Players on stage, the TNT veteran was nowhere to be found, though.
Talk about the man living up to his ‘The Blur’ moniker.
“Umuwi ng maaga,” a source told SPIN.ph. - With reports from Gerry Ramos
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