Happy Birthday, Marcelino "Teroy" Albarillo ( Nov 16 )

Happy Birthday, Marcelino "Teroy" Albarillo

1992 PBA Rookie Draft 19th overall pick
Cebu Doctors College guard
3x PBA champion
5-season PBA veteran
2-PBA team player

Source : Assorted Magazines (PBA Archives Collections)

A Terror named Albarillo by Dick Santos

FOR quite a while, a lot of bas- ketball experts felt that for Swift Mighty Meaty Hotdogs to really be effective, the team must have a legitimate point guard. Sure, guys like Alfonso Solis and Rudy Distrito can at times do the job. But they're better off at off guard. And Ricardo Marata hasn't really found his niche with the Mighty Meaties so much so that along with Edgar Tanuan, he was traded to Sta. Lucia Realty for Vergel Meneses and Zaldy Realubit. That all the more created a vacancy at the point and coach Joseller Yeng' Guiao had to remedy that situation as fast as he could. There was only one point guard in the amateur ranks who would really fit into the Swift system although there were quite a number of court generals available. This was Marcelino Albarillo, the wil-'o- the-wisp of Casino Rubbing Alcohol in the Philippine Basketball League. Fact is, a lot of people felt that Albarillo was ripe for the pros as early as last year when he was drafted on the fourth round by Purefood Oodles Instant Noodles. Teroy was born in Davao City on November 17, 1966 to Francisco Albarillo and the former Maria Valez. He is the sixth of ten kids-Fredo, Sheila, Vicente, Estrellita, Oscar, Teroy, Gemma, Francisco, Allan and a baby who died after birth. The 5-10 Albarillo completed elemen- tary and secondary education at the Matina High school. He then took up electrical Engineering at the University of Mindanao where he tried out for the basketball team upon proddings of his friends. "Sa college na lang talaga ako nag- basketball. Kaya lang, dahil sa basketball, hindi ako natapos ng engineering. Natigil ako nang nasa third year ako, "said Albarillo. Instead, he went on to complete a degree as a radio operator. His first team as a commercial dribbler was Felcris Supermart. From there, he was spotted by officials of Marsman of Davao who recruited him into their ballclub. There, he played alongside Delio Catre and Roy Rubi. It was while playing for Marsman in the PBL Invitationals four years ago that he first strutted his wares in Manila. After that, he was taken in by Mama's Love officials and he started playing in Cebu leagues.