Martirez son fulfills dream-thanks to PBA fund

Count this among Yoyong Martirez’ biggest Philippine Basketball Association accomplishment, although it happened away from the court and several years past his playing years.

Melville, son of the legendary hard court thief, recently passed the licensure exam for physicians, fulfilling the family’s lifelong dream helped in part by the PBA’s Players’ Trust Fund.

"I give my deepest gratitude to the PBA," Melville wrote in his letter to commissioner Noli Eala dated March 10. "May you continue to support the others (like me) for the fulfillment of their dreams."

Melville completed his medical studies at the University of Santo Tomas in 2002, fulfilled his internship requirements a year later and at the start of the year hurdled the Professional Regulation Commission’s exams.

Melville was one of dozens of siblings of former PBA players who benefited from the Players’ Trust Fund’s education program, which draws its funding from player fines and gate receipts from the annual All-Star game.

The program was started in the early 1980s to help the players cope up with the high cost of education.

Among the other recepients are sons and daughters of former league stars like Abet Guidaben, Ramon Fernandez, Manny Paner, Philip Cezar and Atoy Co.

Under the scheme, each year that a cager plays in the PBA is equivalent to a year in school for one of his siblings regardless of level or school as long as it is in the Philippines and not an international school.

The first beneficiary of this program is the son of Rey Vallejo.

Former U-Tex guard Fritz Gaston is so far the only player to ever avail of the program, as the Players’ Trust Fund financed his graduate studies at the Asian Institute of Management.