FILE – San Miguel Beer superstar June Mar Fajardo celebrates winning his sixth PBA MVP award with his mother Marites during the 44th Leo Awards on March 8, 2020 at Araneta Coliseum. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANiLA, Philippines — June Mar Fajardo, the Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) only six-time Most Valuable Player, broke his silence on Sunday following the recent passing of his mother Marites.
“I’ve come to realize that nothing in this life prepares us for losing someone we love—nothing!” the San Miguel cornerstone wrote on Instagram that also showed an old, well-loved photograph of him, his mother, and father Bonifacio.
“It’s the kind of heartache I can feel in my bones,” added the 31-year-old Fajardo, a self-proclaimed “mama’s boy.”
“He was the closest person to his mom. She was everything to him. This is very painful to June Mar,” Fajardo’s long-time mentor and discoverer Atty. Baldomero Estenzo said in a report by Cebu Daily News.
Earlier dispatches from Cebu said the Fajardo matriarch died early Thursday morning. She was 52.
The sporting community has since expressed sympathies for Fajardo online. Messages from fellow PBA players, including the league’s stars, continue to pour in on his Instagram post as of press time.
It is also on Instagram that the PBA star frequently illustrates his relationship with his mother, who according to Fajardo, his foremost influence on and off the court.
Fajardo once credited his mother as the single most reason why he tends to be passive during altercations—including the infamous brawl in Bulacan during a Fiba World Cup qualification match against Australia back in 2018.
“I saw my mom (at the stands). She turned pale,” he told reporters shortly after the incident. “It’s what my parents always tell me, stay out of trouble whenever you can.”