PH loses two sports backers

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

I WAS not surprised when I read in our daily broad sheets last November 11 about the demise of business mogul John L. Gokongwei, Jr. At 93-years old, that’s can be expected. In fact, if you compare him to other people who are passing away in this generation, Gokongwei would be one of the luckiest persons to reach that age. Yes, admittedly, his death is a big loss to our country’s industry and economy, having established successful companies in food and beverage, property development, the Robinson malls, the air transport Cebu Pacific, my favorite airline, to name some. But unknown to many, Gokongwei also supported sports as owner of the fabled Great Taste team in the PBA in the late 70’s starred by the first Pozorrubio’s pride Floreindo Ritualo.  

But I was shocked to learn the following day about the sudden demise of another Philippine business magnate and sportsman. The well-known sports patron Lucio “Bong” Tan, Jr. who was just appointed last month as president of Philippine Airlines (PAL) Holdings Inc., the holding company of his father, the flag carrier PAL, was rushed to Cardinal Santos hospital after collapsing while playing in a recreational game skippering his PAL team against the Exile quintet of the PinoyLiga Cup Finals in Mandaluyong City. Unfortunately, after fighting for his dear life for two days, Bong Tan, 53, succumbed to a disease called “brain herniation”. Yes, it was really devastating loss for Philippine sports and industry and economy in particular.

This illness already victimized numerous known athletes including (then) 40 year-old NBA superstar Pete Maravich in 1980s. Five years ago, PBA legend Samboy Lim, then 52, was also a victim of this illness but luckily survived. However, he is now wheelchair-bound unable to see, nor to speak. It also happened to the former cycling organizer and basketball player the late Tony Kairuz, maker of then famous Patria Bicycles brand and chief organizer of the annual eight-day Tour of PICCA in the late 1970s. The four suffered similarly. After walking off the hardwood court and sat on the bench, they felt dizzy, collapsed and eventually died after battling with it for few days at the hospital. Although incapacitated, Lim was the luckiest of the four.      

Fellow businessmen and sportsmen (including this writer) were shocked by his untimely death knowing him not only as a young successful entrepreneur but also a golf lover, avid swimmer and a die-hard basketball player and philanthropist. Except for the young ones, the University of California engineering degree holder Bong Tan was known by his basketball contemporaries as the leader of his company’s Tanduay Rum amateur basketball squad during the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) era propelling his quintet to multiple championship victories in the late 1990s starred by our kabaleyan Marlou Aquino of Sta. Barbara (where he was discovered en route to his PBA stint). And according to Tim Orbos, owner of the Pangasinan Presidents/Waves of the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA), Bong Tan also owned the Cagayan de Oro Nuggets that participated in the league. Yes, this is to show that Bong Tan’s passion for sports was unequalled and legendary.

For sure, the two Filipino business tycoons will be missed by their friends in sports and industry.
May the good Lord God bless them both with divine peace above.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK:He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, and he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty. PROVERBS 22: 16

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