Gone but never forgotten: PSA to fete departed greats, officials posthumously

Athletes and sports leaders who passed on last year will be remembered in the SMC-PSA (Philippine Sportswriters Association) Annual Awards Night on Feb. 26 at the Centennial Hall of The Manila Hotel.

Olympians Ian Lariba, Danny Florencio, and Leopoldo Cantacio along with former PBA commissioner and chair Rey Marquez are among those who will be honored by the country’s sportswriting fraternity.

Lariba was the country’s first female table tennis player to qualify for the Olympics, representing the Philippines in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Games. Florencio, the electrifying, high-flying guard from UST, was part of the last men’s basketball team to compete in the Olympiad (1972, Munich).

Cantancio was a two-time Olympian who saw action in the 1984 (Los Angeles) and 1988 (Seoul) Summer Games.

Marquez meanwhile, was the fourth commissioner of the PBA, and served as board chair representing Shell.

Others who passed away in 2018 were national players Johnny Revilla and Jerome Cueto, PBA players Joey Mente and Ulysses Tanigue, basketball coach Jun Tiongco, college cage player Rutger Acidre, former boxing association president Roilo Golez, sportswriter and broadcaster Barry Pascua, arena barker Rolly Manlapaz, volleyball player Maria Josefina Referente-Palad, and young wushu training pool member Rastafari Daraliay.

The affair organized by the country’s oldest media organization is presented by Milo, Cignal TV, and the Philippine Sports Commission in partnership with the PBA, Mighty Sports, SM Prime Holdings, Tapa King, Rain or Shine, NorthPort, and Chooks To Go.