Babilonia passes away

Former national player and long-time pro Vegildo "Gido" Babilonia passed away yesterday morning at the Medical City after a bout with pneumonia.

Born Aug. 19, 1966, the 6-foot-5 behemoth, who played juniors basketball for the Letran Squires before suiting up for UST Goldies, was assistant coach of Dindo Pumaren at UE at the time of his death.

Among the premier big men in the amateurs in the late 80s, Babilonia donned the national jersey in the 1989 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games then turned pro the following year.

Picked by Purefoods fourth overall in the 1990 PBA Rookie Draft, Babilonia went on to play 10 seasons in the country’s premier pro league. He also had stints with Shell, Pepsi/7-Up, San Miguel Beer, Mobiline/Talk n Text and FedEx.

Babilonia’s PBA career was interrupted by a heart ailment in 1996. and returned to play with the Pasig Pirates in the MBA.

After the fold-up of the MBA, Babilonia played for Mobiline. — With Arnell Ozaeta