The Miracle Man

For a little over six years from 2002 to 2008, Perry Martinez served under PBA commissioners Jun Bernardino, Noli Eala and Sonny Barrios as technical committee head, pioneering in using technology to improve the league’s officiating standards.

Martinez’ background in basketball goes back to his Ateneo varsity years when he teamed with Chot Reyes and learned about the game’s nuances from coach Chito Narvasa. Today, he’s immersed in his work as acting general manager of Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative which provides power to the province. Martinez moved to Ilocos Norte in 2010 while still keeping close ties with the PBA as consultant under commissioner Chito Salud up to 2015. He later became Ilocos Norte Gov. Matthew Manotoc’s consultant for transportation and investments, eventually leading to his position in the cooperative. Martinez continues to assist Manotoc as consultant in various sectors, including sports which is close to both their hearts.

Martinez, 61, said he remains a PBA fan and watches the games on TV whenever he can. “During my time, we emphasized the officiating philosophy of let the players play, not halting action to call touch fouls and introducing player timeouts,” he said. “Now, players can’t call timeouts anymore which I think is a good move since it rewards good defense, speeds up the game and conforms to FIBA. I’m a basketball purist so I’ll defer judgment on the four-point shot. Let’s give it some time before we judge if it’s good for the game or not. On the four-referee rotation, I support four referees, not three on the court at the same time to cover all angles and make sure they keep pace with the players. The head coach challenge is a good innovation and it’s about taking advantage of technology to assure the right calls.”

It’s not widely known that in 2017, Martinez was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. His lead oncologist Dr. Gary Lorenzo prescribed a treatment of six chemotherapy and 28 radiation sessions. Each chemotherapy session meant a five-day hospital confinement and after three cycles, Martinez took a PET-Scan to determine if the treatment was working. Dr. Lorenzo couldn’t believe the findings as no trace of cancer was left. The remaining three chemotherapy sessions were cancelled but Martinez still went through radiation with each of 28 treatments taking about 15 minutes.

Martinez said the doctors did what could be done and the rest was in God’s hands. He prayed fervently to St. Padre Pio at the National Shrine in Sto. Tomas, Batangas and the chapel in Libis. Martinez kept the faith and visited the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag in Pangasinan. The Man Upstairs listened and Martinez was miraculously cured. During the pandemic, Martinez skipped the mandatory PET-Scans for four years and last November, went back for another test which again showed no cancer. “As a cancer survivor, I owe it to God and my doctors for my recovery,” he said. Prayer is powerful and what happened to Martinez, the Miracle Man, is living proof.