MANILA, Philippines - Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao and co-team owners Raymond Yu and Terry Que share the spotlight as the major awardees in the Smart/PLDT 2012 PBA Press Corps Annual Awards at Kamayan EDSA tonight.
Guiao is the recipient of the Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan Trophy as the Coach of the Year while Yu and Que get the Danny Floro Trophy as the Executives of the Year in the awards rites to be graced by former Sen. Freddie Webb as guest of honor and speaker.
The blue-ribbon affair starts promptly at 7 p.m. with Sev Sarmenta and Erika Padilla as masters of ceremonies.
The firebrand Rain or Shine coach brings home the Dalupan Trophy for the second time in 11 years after engineering the breakthrough championship of the Asian Coating Inc. franchise in the PBA in the season just past.
Smart Gilas II and its coach Chot Reyes receive special citation for their amazing title run in the recent Jones Cup in Taipei.
Composed mostly of PBA stars, Smart Gilas II handed the country its first cage crown outside of the Southeast Asian region in 14 years.
Reyes will be given a separate citation for being the first Filipino coach to win the Jones Cup. The Philippines had its first two Jones Cup championships under coach Ron Jacobs and the third one under coach Tim Cone.
Rain or Shine skipper Jireh Ibanes, Ginebra’s Mark Caguioa, Talk n Text’s Larry Fonacier and Powerade’s Gary David are also major awardees as Defensive Player of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Mr. Quality Minutes and Scoring Champ, respectively.
Also to be feted are Paul Lee, Jayvee Casio, Marcio Lassiter, Dylan Ababou and James Sena composing the All-Rookie Team.
PBA commissioner Chito Salud, current board chairman Robert Non, immediate past chair Mert Mondragon and other PBA officials are expected to grace the occasion.