Last Wednesday, while winding down at the Baguio Country Club after a round of golf, I heard a voice from the bathroom. It was from Rey Bancod, our TRIBUNE Golf editor whom I was sharing a room with while representing our company in the 28th Corporate Cup

“Brod, wala na si Tacujan,” he said, his words came out heavy, thick in disbelief he couldn’t mask.

I froze. It’s not that I was a close confidant of former Philippine STAR sports editor and Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) president Lito Tacujan, but because I consider him as a role model not just in sportswriting and golf, but also with the way he treats people, especially the next generation of sports editors like me.

Boss Lito has always been our guiding light.

Actually, we branched out from the same sportswriting tree at University of Santo Tomas. That’s why whenever I see him during gatherings, he would always smile and call me by my first time, which is a badge of honor for a young buck like me.

“Galingan mo palagi ha. Always write stories for your readers, not for yourself. It should always be about them,” he told me during a PSA party around 10 or 12 years ago.

And that’s what I exactly did.

Whenever I find myself at a crossroad, I always think of what Boss Lito would do in this kind of situation. How would he treat the story? What about the lede? The narrative? In short, although he didn’t edit a single copy from me, I always look up to him, treating him as a living legend in sportswriting.

Just before the pandemic, a major shakeup happened. Boss Lito retired after 32 years of manning the sports desk, not because he was no longer effective or times have already changed with newsrooms slowly shifting to digital operations, but because he was already being slowed down by Parkinson’s disease.

Honestly, I thought that he would no longer be visible to us again.

But I was wrong.

Despite his condition, Boss Lito would still make sure to be around whenever there’s a big gathering among his old friends, including sportswriters and sports officials.

Two years ago, the Philippine Sports Commission organized a golf event at his home course in Canlubang and Boss Lito was there — in a wheelchair — mingling with his old friends like it was just another day at the office. He was so happy that he completely forgot about his illness until the time that we were going home. It took four burly sportswriters — including me — to help him negotiate the stairs and safely into his car.

During the PSA Awards last February at the Diamond Hotel, Boss Lito showed up in his wheelchair and sportswriters, who grew up reading and idolizing him, gathered around to pose for a photo like young ninjas looking to absorb the brilliance and wisdom of an old shogun.

“O pagbubutihin nyo palagi ha. Binabasa ko kayo,” he said.

Little did I know that it would be the last.