A man?s true worth is measured not by the size of his bank account but by the number of lives he touched or influenced along the way.
Former broadcast journalist Ronnie Nathanielsz lived in the Philippines for over five decades and, in more ways than one,influenced the lives of many. Last Saturday, in the official launch of his memoir (Ronnie Nathanielsz: My Reflections on 50 Years in the Philippines), some of the illustrious names in Philippine sports gathered to share heart-warming stories about Ronnie.
Basketball legends Robert Jaworski and Freddie Webb, coaches Norman Black and Tim Cone, and the widow of boxing legend Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde, Laura Elorde, all had a story to share about Ronnie. This writer, along with fellow scribes/analysts Mike Ochosa and Ron De Los Reyes, also offered a testimonial to Ronnie.
The book chronicles Ronnie?s story starting from his birth in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) until his demise in 2016. Ronnie found his way to the Philippines in December 1962 after he married a Filipina, Remigia Abrenica, in Sri Lanka in 1960. Ronnie was a jack-of-all-trades, working as a T-shirt model, a news/sports reporter, a jingle composer, and a singer on radio. He became Filipino citizen by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 192 issued in May 1973 by then President Ferdinand Marcos.
This writer?s association with Ronnie traces its roots from the world of sportswriting. Ronnie was a colleague in Champ magazine back in 1987. I vividly remember our first meeting: It was in a world title fight at the Araneta Coliseum and I was instructed by my editor to secure the opinions of the boxing experts at ringside. Then a newbie in sportswriting, I was ignored by just about every ?expert? I tried to interview. I was bracing for the worst when I approached Ronnie, but he instead welcomed me with a smile and offered opinions on the fight that filled up my tape recorder.
Ronnie and I ended up being broadcast partners for ABS-CBN Sports. We covered countless fights and along the way shared numerous stories. He wanted me to join him in covering fights in the United States, but I repeatedly begged off because, well, I really hate flying.
The conversations we had in-between coverages varied, but they were all fun. We were able to talk about politics despite the differences in our ideologies. Oh, sports dominated our conversations. We had a sort of trivia challenge and just when I thought I had Ronnie pinned in the corner with a totally unheard of Philippine sports trivia, he would rebut the same by saying: ?Remember, I was there when that story happened.?
