Cage idol Tanigue turns 45 today

BASKETBALL icon Ulysses "Buboy" Tanigue was supposed to relax in Tagoloan, the hometown of his wife, after a tumor operation last December. But he caught up with fever that seemed to last forever.

“Ganahan gyod siya sa among gi-rentahan nga balay dire sa Tagoloan (Misamis Oriental) kay maka-relax siya hilig man gud niya manglimpiyo sa nataran ug mag gardening,” shares Emelyn, the former PBA player’s second wife for 15 years.

Today, January 31, the three-time NCAA MVP who steered the San Sebastian Stags to a rare five-peat title run, turns 45 but in a coffin. It’s very unlikely for the Stags’ starting guard to die early as his father took his last breath, some two years ago, at the age of 102 years old.

But a long battle with leukemia, diagnosed in 2010, finally took its toll on him last Sunday, January 28 while bed-ridden at their small house in Tagoloan.

“Buboy was a fighter really determined to survive after his second major operation naa pa koy video nga nagsayaw siya pero sa hilanat nga walay paglurang siya nadali,” relates Emelyn, proud of his husband’s last effort in basketball when the 5-foot-8 Tanigue led his ragtag team in defeating the reigning champion in DAR (Department of Agriculture) national inter-color tourney in Manila, late last year.

“Grabe iyang paningkamot adto nga dula napadaug niya ang team bisan siyam ra sila kabuok against the defending champion.”

In sickness, Emelyn said her husband don’t have the nerves to stop playing basketball that he carried on confidently believing he’s becoming fit enough to continue, even to the extent of totally skipping his chemo medication in 2016.

That’s the time, Emelyn suspects, the tumor that left Tanigue a long ugly stitch on his back after the operation, developed.

But who would not. Tanigue’s regular treatment for chronic leukemia would cost them around P180,000 a month of hard-to-find money.

Tanigue’s family may not celebrate his 45th birthday today, but a little help from “college days friends” in San Sebastian have started coming on their way as birthday gift.

Stags teammate Jasper Ocampo, who’s now in the US, delivered yesterday some cash through emissary Anton Pabillore, Tanigue’s contemporary as a former FEU Tamaraws guard in the more illustrious UAAP League.

Coach Bai Cristobal, concurrent NCAA League commissioner, also made his presence felt.

“Tumawag si coach Bai and I told him hindi pwede condolence lang kay in need sa help ang family ni Buboy and his response was very positive,” Pabillore told this writer.

Anton’s younger brother Mario "Tikol" Pabillore Jr., himself a survivor of near fatal aneurysm attack, said Tanigue was his inspiration as a budding Stags sophomore then.

“With his size, ma-challenge gyod ka nga maka-dunk kay mas gamay pero makumbayotan niya ang ring. He simply toyed with us sa mga dula sa una kay maayong laki gyod sa basketball,” the younger Pabillore said.

Tanigue played briefly for the Purefoods franchise, which picked him in the second round at 15th overall during the 1998 PBA rookie draft that had Danny Ildefonso as the top pick overall.

But he is best remembered as the starting guard of the dreaded San Sebastian team coached by Bai Cristobal that completed a rare fivepeat in the NCAA in the nineties alongside Romel Adducul, Brixter Encarnacion, Jasper Ocampo, and Banjo Calpito.

“He’s a good passer and shooter and could have made the starter position if he had been more serious and focused on his career,” recalled former PBA commissioner and coach Chito Narvasa, who was at the helm of Purefoods during Tanigue’s freshman season.

Friends in Cagayan de Oro could visit Tanigue’s wake in Tagoloan until Feb. 1.

On Feb. 2, his remains will be brought to Butuan where the adopted son of Cagayan de Oro will be laid to rest in a cemetery near his father’s burial site. With Spin.ph reports

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