Ethyl Alcohol’s Bill Wong passes away

Ethyl Alcohol’s William "Bill" Wong, long considered a member of the PBL family, passed away the other day following a diving accident off the waters of Green Island resort in the municipality of Badian, some 100 kilometers Southwest of Cebu City.

He was 36. His body lies in state at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Cebu City.

Wong, who also served as manager for importation of the family-owned International Pharmateuticals Incorporated (IPI), is survived by his wife Ma. Celeste "Maricel" Asuncion-Wong and children Gabriel, Nikki, Billy Boy, and Kyle.

He was with nine other friends and relatives for scuba diving and spear fishing in Badian, when the accident occurred.

Bill was the first to take off and roughly after 20 minutes, he was found by the group’s boatman floating. He was immediately brought off-shore where his friends tried, but failed, to revive him.

Friends said he could have gone too deep as his computer recorded he went down as far as 188 feet. His big oxygen tank registered zero, and his small back-up oxygen tank was detached.

"We don’t know if he struggled on the way up and lost grip of the small oxygen tank. The boatman said he (Bill) was almost beyond recognition as his whole body bloated," said Rowell Abad, a member of the Ethyl squad’s coaching staff.

Abad further related that Bill recently underwent a general check-up after suffering chest pains following a tennis game. His physician reportedly recommended administering steroids last Friday but refused because of the scheduled scuba diving trip.

Bill was the youngest of a brood of four that include Dennis, Vicky, and David, Jr. His parents are David Wong, Sr. and Paz, former town mayor of Dalaguete.

Interment is scheduled on Wednesday.

PBL commissioner Chino Trinidad said Bill’s death was a big loss for Philippine basketball.

"I knew him for a short time, I just felt sad because they were also planning to stage a comeback in the PBL. Looking back, his team brought the league to new heights, bringing unknown talents who really caught the fancy of PBL fans and are now superstars of the PBA," said Trinidad.