Gilas Tribute - Alfrancis Chua

First Filipino Imports - Alfrancis Chua is one of them

ALFRANCIS HITS IT BIG IN TAIWAN 

Sports Weekly Magazine May 10, 1991

PHILIPPINE Basketball League (PBL) followers are perhaps wondering where spunky guard Alfrancis Chua is right now. When the Maharlika Cup reeled off three months ago, Chua was nowhere in the line-up of A&W Rootbears (formerly Philips Sardines), a team he played for the last three years. Chua wasn't dropped from the A&W roster. It was he who sought his release from coach Joe Lipa following a hard to refuse offer from a Taiwan ballclub. Yes, Chua is currently playing as an import of Lucky Cement, one of the top basketball teams in Taiwan. He is receiving a salary not even one of the more than ten rookies in the PBA at the moment have managed to wangle from their respective ballclubs.

Fact is, Chua was already eligible for the PBA amateur draft this year having been born on January 17, 1967. But he did not file any application with the PBA  As early as last year, the 6-0 Chua received offers from officials of Lucky Cement who happened to watch him play for a visiting Filipino-Chinese team. At first, he shrugged off the offer as a mere joke. But in December, when Chua accompanied a Filipino-Chinese Amateur Athletic Federation (FCAAF) selection headed by basketball development committee chair- men Julian Camacho and Alfonso So, the offer was reiterated.Of course, Chua became excited by the prospects of playing as an import. However, he was not that proficient in Chinese and that's why he sought the assistance of So in finalizing the deal. So, who acted as Chua's manager, did all the negotiations and got for Chua not only a hefty salary but also good accommodations. This, So did in line with the FCAAF's policy of helping Fil-Chi cagers really develop their skills. And unlike other managers, So never received anything monetary in return for his efforts. Fact is, he even shelled out money for Chua's travel documents.

"We at the FCAAF are always willing to help Fil-Chi players. That's because wo dream of someday seeing more Fil-Chi dribblers reaping honors for the Philippines in local as well as international competitions," said So, who is vice-chairman of the FCAAF basketball committee. So is chairman-president of Sosan in- dustries, Inc., one of the top 1000 corporations in the Philippines. Sosan is an exporter of local handicrafts and sends products to more than 40 countries all over the world. Likewise, he is president of the UNO High School Alumni Association and vice-chairman of the Mapua Institute of Technology Filipino Chinese Alumni Association. Aside from his devotion to help Fil-Chi dribblers, he is also a stickler for academics. He gives out scholarship grants to a number of students hoping that they would follow his footsteps. , too, was a scholar then. Somebody helped me finish my studies. I'm trying to return a favor. And maybe, in the future when my scholars are already degree holders, they will also give out grants to other poor students," he said. 

Alfrancis is the eighth of nine kids of David Chua, Sr. and Dita Osmun. His brothers and sisters include Janice, David, Jr., Noel, Robert, Nelson, Beth, Ellen and Junel Alfrancis played three years for Grace Christian High School from 1981 to 1984. Then he was recruited by then coach Fred Reyes for the Letran College Squires. He saw action for the Letran Juniors for one NCAA season (1984-85). After that, he moved over to University of Santo Tomas and donned the Glowing Goldies jersey from 1986 to 1990 under coach Januario del Rosario. Last year, he also acted as coach of the junior team of UST and trainer of the senior squad. He is a Business Administration graduate Curiously, a former Taiwan import Paul Raymond Du, filled Chua's slot on the A&W Rootbears line-up. Du, a member of the 1986 RP 17-and-under team that finished second to Qatar in the 1st ABC Youth tournament, is a product of UNO High. Du played for the Uneans Sosan team in the recently concluded FCAAF Federa tion Cup. However, the Uneans did not make the semifinal round. So there, Fi-Chi cagers can make it big in Taiwan as imports!