Longtime Filipino sports executive Mauricio “Moying” Martelino died on Wednesday, September 22, at the age of 86.

Martelino, considered one of the pillars of Philippine sports, succumbed to a lingering illness.

He served as secretary-general of the Asian Basketball Confederation (now called FIBA Asia), the Philippine Bowling Congress, and the Basketball Association of the Philippines (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas’ predecessor).

Martelino worked as executive director of the organizing committee when the country hosted the FIBA World Championship (now called the FIBA World Cup) in 1978 in Manila.

FIBA awarded Martelino an Order of Merit in 1999 for his contributions – one of the only six officials from FIBA Asia to receive the honor.

Martelino, together with former PBA commissioner Emilio “Jun” Bernardino, Rhea Navarro, and Ricky Palou, also founded the Sports Vision Management Group Inc. in 2004.

Sports Vision is the group behind the Shakey’s V-League, which is now known as the Premier Volleyball League.

Martelino then took on the role as senior consultant of the SBP, a position he held from 2011 to 2020.

The SBP paid tribute to Martelino in February by giving him a plaque of appreciation for his service.

Self-effacing

Martelino was at the forefront of three important events in Philippine sports, but he preferred to be at the sidelines.

The first was to change the focus of the Basketball Association of the Philippines in the late 1960s as the country lost its reputation as the best in Asia. Working with BAP president Lito Puyat and secretary-general Honesto Mayoralgo, BAP leaned on getting more young players and exposing them through the Asian Youth tournaments.

This bore fruit when the country qualified for the 1972 Olympics, the last time the Philippines made it to the Olympics, and in the 1973 Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC), which the Filipino five won on home ground.

Though it lost the core of the national team to the Philippine Basketball Association, BAP continued holding more tournaments where many future national players and coaches came from.

The crowning glory of the period was the staging of the 1978 World Basketball Championship in Manila.

In the 1981 Southeast Asian Games, Martelino was also part of the organizing committee, where he proved to be an adroit planner.

He again applied his management skills in volleyball, which he helped reached new highs in awareness, surpassing even the years when the national women’s volleyball team lorded it over Southeast Asia.

Despite these achievements, Martelino remained self-effacing and greeted people with an easy smile. He had a knack for finding solutions and his advice was valued by sports official, especially during international competitions. – with a contributed report/Rappler.com