Birthday Greeting to Sir Ramon Dela Cruz ( Nov 26 )

RAMON DE LA CRUZ
This is one guy who out of nowhere, suddenly made it to a national team, the 1980 RP Youth squad piloted by Turing Valenzona and where among others, future pros like Terry Saldaña, Ed Cordero, and Bay Cristobal, and Yoyoy Villamin were included. We refer to Onchie de la Cruz whose rugged style of play reminds fans of Sonny Jaworski.

The 23-year old Onchie, who attri- butes his tough style of playing to his backlot stints in Manuguit, Tondo where he grew up, also made it to the 1982 Asian Games team, and the following year, to the SEA Games quintet. From thereon, Onchie, who stands an inch short of six feet, became a journeyman in the amateur commercial leagues, playing for, among others, Filand Brokerage, USIPHIL, Sampaguita Pictures, Achievers, Zest-0, Paul Jordan, Boogie Jeans, and before his Maisagana stint, with the Bayside team. He had a brief stint with the San Se- bastian Staglets but was disqualified since he had graduated from high school alrea- dy, then played for a year with the Philippine Christian University's varsity team. The youngest of 3 boys and 2 girls of Cipriano de la Cruz and Juliana Guevarra, now both residing in the States, Onchie, like many others, dreams of playing in the PBA. "Palagay ko handa na ako, lalo na tao- tao ang laro sa PBA, iyan talaga ang style. ko, ang problema lang, nahihiya akong lumapit sa mga PBA teams, baka kay Coach Canson, makalapit ako dahil kilala na niya ako," said Onchie, who quit his Commerce studies two years ago to concentrate on basketball.

"Sa ngayon, mas gugustuhin kong maglaro sa PBA kaysa sa national team, tutal nag-national na ako, isa pa, kailangan ko rin ang pera," added the solidly- built Onchie whose forte is defense, "sa offense, pasa lang ako, kung libre, titira din ako." Presently, he is waiting for his call from the US Embassy since his parents have petitioned for him already, "kaya nga last year, nag-enroll ako sa computer programming para makakuha ng trabaho sa States, pero pag may PBA offer, lalaro muna ako dito," he explained. About his Maisagana team, he says, "kulang kami sa depensa, kung lalakas ang depensa, puede kaming pumasok sa semis," though his team brought down the highly-fancied Magnolia team during the first round in a game where Onchie played a major role.