He was still the fiery coach that basketball fans see.
Dressed in a black buttoned-up shirt, Pido Jarencio still coached his Globalport Batang Pier to victory over the Talk N’ Text Tropang Texters 123-120.
A few scores of Globalport fans dressed in green were on the stands cheered on as the game went into a frenzy.
Jarencio, however, was missing one fan, his no. 1 fan.
His brother Giovanni.
Giovanni is Jarencio’s oldest brother and passed away on Monday due to heart attack.
Unlike Jarencio who dedicated his professional life to basketball, Giovanni was, as Filipinos would say, a normal employee at Quezon City Hall.
“He’s my no. 1 fan,” Jarencio said, his voice hoarse and holding back emotions as he recounted what happened.
“We were in Dubai (for the PBA Dubai Games) on Friday and he had a heart attack, then he recovered on Saturday. On Sunday he had a cardiac arrest then another one on Monday.”
Jarencio usually had a brimming smile on his face when his team won but this time, on a Friday evening, the often-smiling man sat on a chair, eyes down, and just wanted the day to end.
“This game was dedicated to my brother…this is for his family,” Jarencio said. TVJ