Tony and 'Ondoy'

That sunny noon that woke up summer early February was made even warmer by Tony Chua’s hosting of a sumptuous lunch for us who have just welcomed the new leadership of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA).


It was a homecoming of sorts for Mr. Wachu, as some PSA members call him with endearment, as Sir Tony somehow reconnected with the PSA, the country’s oldest media organization, which he supported long before Red Bull and Agfa, two companies he helped nurture into becoming big businesses, were affected by the coming of cheaper energy drinks and the advent of digital camera technology.


It was with pain that Sir Tony had to relay to Gus Villanueva, our PSA elder, the decision arrived at by his business partners sacrificing their long-time sponsorship of the PSA to cut advertising costs. We took it well and thanked them for their nearly 10 years of support to the PSA.


Sir Tony, however, did not totally abandon us. He was always of help whenever the sports media needed him. He stayed active in the promotion of football and basketball. It was in the Philippine Basketball League and the Philippine Basketball Association where he shone as one of the best team managers and board representatives around. He helped the PBA stay afloat during one of the league’s short trying times when he served as league chairman.


In his mind, it was all sports. And during the luncheon he had hosted for us, he brought along the owner of Outlast Batteries, whom he "forced" to become a sponsor of the PSA forum the PSA hosts weekly at the Shakey’s UN Avenue branch.


He turned what was already a lively discussion into a riot when he tried to convince us to use a sports bracelet he was wearing which he claimed bettered his blood circulation, breathing and all the major medical promises the late Ernie Baron’s pito-pito tea once promised until it overtook the "pamparegla" juice being openly sold by so-called herbalists in Quiapo.


He never took our jibes personally, but he knew he failed to sell us his thoughts on that "revolutionary product."


He would call once in a while, but he never mentioned anything about that bracelet anymore. He would check on Letran’s progress in the NCAA, or he would just simply check on some PSA members he loved well.


So, it came as a shock when we learned about his death on Sunday.


"Napakabigat, brod," was all Nelson Beltran, Class A sportswriter of the Philippine Star who heads the PBA press corps, could say when this rubbernecker tried to confirm news about Sir Tony’s drowning in the floods that swept Metro Manila at the height on Typhoon "Ondoy."


My cellphone screen also turned cloudy soon after other news about his death came in, they were like a deluge which came later after Ondoy had subsided.


It was not just Sir Tony.


Different news and different stories came later when communication lines were reestablished among friends and relatives.


Even fellow scribes reported losing homes and properties due to the floods. Some of them had to be rescued, others had to wait for two days before the most basic of their needs, like food and water, came.


Government help was not felt in majority of the affected areas.


Gloria Arroyo looked good in a raincoat and boots, but she was not cute in her gimmicks, including opening Malacañang temporarily to victims of Ondoy.


Although Ondoy offered Gibo Teodoro a chance to shine, he was a big letdown as he was obviously drowned by the immediate task at hand.


While disaster preparedness is 100 percent anticipation, government was only reactionary to the demands of a wrecked population, its weaknesses were exposed.


Questions were also raised about its spending, with more people becoming aware of the P800 million emergency fund used for Gloria’s trip while she is now knocking on foreign donors to help in the relief of Ondoy’s victims.


Her expensive dinners in the US also became an apparent target of criticisms as the money would have saved more lives if it was used to purchase rubber boats which would have come handy at the height of the flooding.


Questions were also raised about the much-touted AFP modernization program, whose funding should come from the bases conversion fund raised during the FVR administration and yet, the AFP and the PNP do not have enough of a fleet of rubber boats to help in such disasters, how much more planes and ships and choppers?


Had these monies been used properly and wisely, and not gone to corruption and the Malacañang toilets, we would not have lost friends and relatives, like Tony.