ATO is like a plant that grew on a sidewalk. He did not start with UAAP nor NCAA. He was obscure before. Yet, in this basketball crazy nation, Ato’s name shall forever be etched in the national consciousness.
In 1989, Lyceum was not known to be breeding grounds of basketball stars. San Miguel Beer gambled on the unknown pirate and picked him 11th overall in the draft.
He is a pride of Pampanga.
He paved the way for such Pampango players as Arwind Santos, Ian Sangalang, Japeth Aguilar, Jason Castro and Calvin Abueva.
At one time, he led the Pampanga Dragons to a championship years back in The Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA).
In 1992, he was the PBA Most Valuable Player.
That year, he led SMB to the championship. As if this is not enough, Ato was 3x mythical player from 1942 to 1994. He was the Most Improved Player in 1991 and PBA Comeback Player in 2000.
He was a dominant player in the MBA. Pampanga was a champion in 1998 where he was the Most Valuable Player and a member of The Mythical Five.
He is the only living player that was cited as PBA and MBA Most Valuable Player. He is one of the PBA’s 25 Greatest Players in 2000.
It is to the credit of Coach Norman Black who saw the potentials of Ato.
Due to constant injuries to Samboy Lim and Hector Calma, Black utilized Ato as point guard and he rose to the occasion. The rest is history.
Time does not spare anyone, not even the greats like Ato. He transformed from player to coach effortlessly. He agreed to coach the San Sebastian Stags in 2009. The Stags won the championship the same year.
In 2010, he became the Head Coach of San Miguel. In 2011, he was the PBA Champion coach of the Petron Blaze Boosters (SMC Satellite) besting the Talk and Text in seven games.
On July 25, 2013, Ato became the coach of the popular Barangay Ginebra but later on replaced by Coach Frankie Lim.
He is now back at San Miguel Team as assistant coach to coach Leo Austria. Here is a resilient person who understands the nuances of playing and coaching basketball.
More than this, Ato serves as one of the members of Sangguniang Panlungsod of San Fernando. He has served the City as one of the veteran legislators in the council. At present, he is the Chairman of Committee on Entertainment, Games and Amusement.
Ato has carved a niche in the history of basketball in the Philippines, apart from being a civil servant. He is a living legend – Renato G. Agustin of Lubao and San Fernando, Pampanga.