Rest in Peace, Rolly

Philippine sports has lost a brilliant voice in Rolly Africa Manlapaz after he passed away at the age of 58 due to Lou Gehrig's disease.

A few days before his death, I saw an Instagram picture of Manlapaz in his hospital bed and I noticed that he has grown a mustache and beard while also losing a lot of weight.

Manlapaz has been sorely missed in the UAAP games since the league opened this month. Three barkers -- Noel Vilar, Richard Campos and Edwin "Rick Stryker" Logina -- have alternated in that role in his absence.

Sadly, all three of them could not match the booming voice and charisma of Manlapaz, who has a lot of fans in the college leagues but PBA officials have long disliked his style and he left the pro league for good in 2013.

Before being a barker starting with the defunct MBA, Manlapaz was a radio DJ for such FM stations as 89 DMZ, WXB 102 and RJ FM and even worked for Filoil Flying V as its sports manager aside from his duties as barker for the Preseason Premiere Cup games at the Filoil Flying V Center.

I hope PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial and the league's board of governors offer financial help for Manlapaz. He may have had his differences with the league, but there's no denying that Manlapaz was a hit among PBA fans and he was a capable replacement for Boyet Sison after the latter decided to go full-time with ABS-CBN News as its weather and sports anchor.

At present, the PBA barkers like Noel Zarate and Mark Luzon have been able to approximate what Rolly used to do but there's no denying that Manlapaz had a different aura every time he sat on the officials' table during basketball games.

Manlapaz also proved capable as a barker for volleyball leagues like the UAAP and Philippine Super Liga.

Rest in Peace, Rolly. You will be missed by the Philippine basketball community.