Longtime basketball buddy mourns passing of Bong Tan
Lucio "Bong" Tan Jr., namesake son of tycoon Lucio Tan, passed away Monday morning at a hospital in San Juan where he was rushed after collapsing during a basketball game in Mandaluyong last Saturday.
He was 53.
As words of sympathy poured from the sporting community, many of whom knew him personally, like former University of the East player and San Juan councilor Paul Artadi and PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, one of his closest friends during the mid-'90s lamented Tan’s passing with deeper emotion.
“I was so shocked by the news,” said former Stag Pale Pilsen coach Alfrancis Chua. “Kundisiyon siya, maingat sa food, saka wala namang bisyo. Hindi ako makapaniwala.”
Tan put together the Pilseners basketball team in 1995 and, with Chua as head coach and amateur stars like Marlou Aquino, Bal David, Jason Webb, Chito Victolero and Mark Telan as the core, swept the threeconference Philippine Basketball League season.
Tan’s partnership with Chua would produce seven PBL championships in 10 final appearances.
“Matagal din ang pinagsamahan namin sa Stag and Tanduay,” said Chua, who went on to coach Tanduay Rhum when Stag switched brand names as it took the big leap to the Philippine Basketball Association in 1999.
Their tandem would result in a runner-up finish in the All-Filipino Conference that year, and although they eventually went their separate ways, the two basketball-loving buddies had stayed in touch.
“I’ll be paying my last respects to him with coach Itoy [Esguerra, Stag assistant coach back then],” said Chua.
Artadi, who played for Esguerra with the UE Warriors, was among the first to take social media with confirmation of Tan’s passing.
“My deepest condolences to my boss Lucio ‘Bong’ Tan Jr. You will be missed,” Artadi wrote on his Facebook account.
Marcial also expressed deep sadness.
“Nalulungkot ako,” Marcial told FOX Sports Philippines. “Very active kasi yan supporting teams in the PBA, D-League, MPBL and UAAP. Nakakagulat kasi very fit yan, naglalaro ng basketball, nag go-golf, kaya nakakabigla talaga yung pagkamatay niya.”
(TST)