Former PBA ace works as Tarlac commish

MANILA, Philippines - Tony de la Cerna owes what he is to basketball and to this day, the former PBA player remains loyal to the sport that has opened doors of opportunity in his life.

De la Cerna, 51, played only 16 games for Purefoods in the 1989 PBA season but enjoyed a long career as an amateur standout. The University of Baguio forward saw action on the PABL Swift team that won the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup (then known as the ABC Inter-club) title in Jakarta in 1988 and also wore the national colors at the Jones Cup and the ABC Championships in 1991-92. He did the rounds of commercial teams with C. F. Sharp (alongside Allan Caidic and Pido Jarencio), Masagana 99 (under coach Ding Panganiban), ESQ Marketing, Sta. Lucia Realty and Blu Detergent.

 “Basketball has been good to me,” said De la Cerna. “I’m grateful to coach Nat Canson for giving me the chance to teach the game. I was his assistant with Blu Detergent in the PBL. He was my biggest influence, particularly in coaching fluid offense which is his style.”

De la Cerna settled down in Tarlac over 15 years ago with his wife Maritess Amurao. Their daughter Carissa Marie, 22, is a nursing graduate who now works at the Jecson Hospital in Tarlac City. 

 “My father (Victoriano) was assigned in Camp Aquino, Tarlac, when he was with the Army and I went to school in Tarlac from Grade 1 to Grade 6,” said De la Cerna, one of seven children. “After finishing my playing career in Manila, I decided to go back to Tarlac where my wife is from.”

De la Cerna is considered the basketball guru in Tarlac which has produced other PBA players like Niño Canaleta, Macky Escalona and Banjo Calpito. He is the assistant sports director at Tarlac State University and trainer of the school’s varsity women’s team that is a powerhouse in the Region III league. De la Cerna also conducts hoop clinics and supervises camps all over the province.

At the moment, De la Cerna serves as commissioner of Rep. Henry Cojuangco’s innovative 3-on-3 “Barkada Ball” tournament involving 16,000 players in 250 barangays in 10 towns in the first district. The competition will cover over 3,000 games and is scheduled to end with the district finals in August.

De la Cerna was Cojuangco’s personal choice as commissioner. He has mobilized about 120 referees from the province to work the games. Before the tournament started, the SBP sent Anthony Sulit to Tarlac to conduct a seminar on the mechanics of the FIBA 33 game, which was featured at the World Youth Olympics in Singapore last year. Former national youth coach Eric Altamirano assisted in the conceptualization of “Barkada Ball.”

De la Cerna was initially awed by the enormity of the project. “This is a new game for us,” he said. “We had to teach the rules to our referees then the coaches then the players. But the 3-on-3 format is very exciting. It’s a fast-paced game. We learned to adjust right away. We are thankful to Congressman Cojuangco for giving us the chance to promote basketball down to the grassroots level.”

Cojuangco conceived of “Barkada Ball” as a summer project primarily for the youth. The tournament is split into two divisions – juniors for 18 years old and below and seniors for 19-25. “I’ve always believed in sports as a way to introduce the youth to the values of discipline, teamwork and determination,” said Cojuangco. “It gives me the opportunity to interact with the youth and find out directly from them their needs, their aspirations. I try to go to the games whenever possible and get together with town and barangay officials at the same time.”

In a recent visit to Ramos town, Cojuangco watched the 3-on-3 games then inspected several projects in the district under his watch. 

For De la Cerna, running “Barkada Ball” is a way of giving back. “We’re looking for promising players to recommend to college coaches, especially high school graduates with no means of going to college,” said De la Cerna. “So far, we’ve spotted a lot of junior players with the potential to play for a college team. It’s a lot of hard work going from one town to another supervising the games. But this is a team effort and because we believe in Congressman Cojuangco’s goals, we are committed to make ‘Barkada Ball’ a big success.”

De la Cerna joined Alvin Patrimonio, Ato Agustin, Bong Alvarez and Nelson Asaytono in the PABL Swift title squad in 1988 under Canson. He played for coach Francis Rodriguez at the ABC Championships with Johnny Abarrientos, Marlou Aquino, Bonel Balingit, Macky de Joya, Jun Limpot and Bong Ravena but lost his spot to Vergel Meneses when the national team was reformed for the 1991 Southeast Asian Games.

“I still play the game,” said De la Cerna. “Sometimes, on weekends, Boss Buddy (Encarnado) will invite his former players to get together and play pick-up games. But we’ve been busy on weekends in Tarlac with ‘Barkada Ball’ so no playing lately.”