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AFTER a long fight with cancer, former Ateneo and national team captain and Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) player Emilio “Nonoy” Chuatico passed away on New Year’s Day in Atlanta, Georgia.
While on the one hand it is sad to see him go, it is good that Nonoy is now pain free.
He was affected by cancer for the first time in 2012, recovered it, and was apparently on the road to recovery. He returned in 2016 and Nonoy resumed treatment. It got worse during Christmas 2019 when he began to lose his vision. He endured and fought valiantly during treatment, but finally succumbed a few days ago.
I knew about Nonoy when we were in school, even though she was two lots ahead of me at the Athenaeum. I got to know him better when I stayed with some freshmen in Cervini’s dorm on the Ateneo campus. Although I lived about 20 minutes from the Athenaeum, I did it because I was courting this girl from Eliazo Hall who was right on the other side of Cervini.
Once, with some roommates and classmates, we went to Eliazo to harana the woman. Nonoy joined us. “It seems you need help, partner ”, is what I remember him saying as he put his arm around me.
the harana it went right. I think that more than half of Eliazo’s girls came to the balconies of their rooms to listen to us perform acoustically — and now that I remember — sweet versions of New Wave songs. After all, it was the 80s and punk and the new wave were kings.
I never won the girl’s heart, but in Nonoy I won a very, very good friend.
After finally helping the Blue Eagles to their first Philippine College Athletic Association (UAAP) championship that 1986-87 season, he last dressed in blue and white at the UAAP National that season. Against a tough Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras team that featured Mark Tallo, Calvin Tuadles, Jun Jabar and Tibo Mutia, Ateneo struggled.
The Cobras scored to take a two-point lead with 15 seconds left. Blue Eagle point guard Jun Reyes advanced the ball intending to shoot, but was double-tagged forcing him to lose the ball. The ball was going off the field when Nonoy picked up the fumble and with two seconds left on the clock fired a 30-foot shot that was all net. The entire Davao Coliseum was silent as the SWU supporters were silent. It took the referees five minutes to make the decision that the shot had counted as the Athenaeum celebrated joyfully on the field.
That incredibly game was played on February 22, 1988; Chuatico 23rd birthday. A devout Catholic, Chuatico stopped by a church to pray before the game. “All I wanted then was to play the best I could. I knew we could win, but I wanted to play my best in my last game with Ateneo ”.
After that game, when I saw Noy in Manila, we high-fives and patted each other on the back. “Chamba lang“He said modestly of his big shot.
A dead-eyed shooter and his kontra-time lay-up – he was the only one doing that in amateurs back then – I thought he would be an excellent professional player.
Instead of turning professional, Chuatico went to work for the company of the then patron of the Ateneo team, Ernest Escaler.
He seemed content to pursue a business life, but was eventually pushed back to basketball. As Noy told me, “Say, I will try. So there are no regrets. “
He was captain of the 1991 Philippine team that won gold at the Southeast Asian Games and then played for Purefoods before completing his PBA career with Geneva.
Before the ’91 Sea Games gold medal game, I ran into Noy outside the Big Dome. He had an extra ticket for me, but I told him I didn’t need it as friends and that I had tickets in the stands. I said I had this huge Philippine flag that I planned to wave from the rafters. The flag belonged to a neighbor whose father was a sailor and the flag was removed from the ship (to be removed as it had seen better days).
Just before the end of the warm-ups, Nonoy pushed some of his teammates aside, pointed at us, and waved. Imagine that. He did not forget his friend in the stands.
But that was Nonoy. He never forgot his friends. Through the years, even while convalescing in the US, we always spoke either via messenger chat or via audio call. We talked about Athenaeum and basketball, war movies and documentaries that we enjoyed, comics and books (he was a voracious reader) and movies among many others. Our chat is rife with that kind of geek conversation.
We often recommended movies and books to each other. The last one he recommended I buy was Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal’s “Mossad Most Important Missions of the Israeli Secret Service”, which I bought in Singapore (as it was not available locally at the time).
On the contrary, he also asked me to help him find certain comics for his daughters, whom he absolutely loved. And that was pretty cool.
Although Nonoy was a coach in the Metropolitan Basketball Association with the Manila Metrostars, he was happy to have finished his years as a player with Geneva. “I won championships with the Ateneo. I have a gold medal at the SEA Games and I was able to play for Sonny Jaworski and Geneva … what more could I ask for?
That was typical of Nonoy … always looking on the bright side.
Even while receiving cancer treatment, he never stopped talking and seeing how he could help me as a writer.
His older sister, Chao, told me numerous times, in the last three hours after Noy’s death, “He (Noy) always told me that I should share with you stories or scoops I had about basketball because you were going to do well. and with integrity. He would always suggest your name when we talked about who to cover a story for. He was sure to be a great admirer and friend of yours. “
It’s funny when I think about it. I was a fan of him and of him, of me.
However, isn’t that what friendship is all about?
While in treatment, her family posted the hashtag #NonoyStrong to provide emotional support as she battled cancer. When I think about it, it was actually the other way around, he was strong for his family, friends and colleagues. A source of strength. Imagine that even when I was grieving, she would always take time to comfort me over the passing of friends and family. And for many others as well.
He certainly disagreed with the saying, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Nonoy said, “A friend is someone who is never taken for granted.”
I am glad that we remain very good friends despite living as separate oceans. Rest in peace and quiet, my friend. You fought the great great fight. Like a champion as always.
