ELMER YANGA DIES AT 78

Former Pop Cola/Swift team manager Elmer Yanga passed away on Wednesday due to a lingering illness. He was 78.

Known for his amiable personality, Yanga served as team manager when RFM Corporation joined the PBA as one of the two expansion squads during the 1990 season.

The team back then was known as Pop Cola, with Yeng Guiao serving as the expansion squad's first coach.

Yanga also served as the team's alternate governor until the RFM franchise left the PBA in 2001. The year after, he served as team manager of the PBA-backed national team that placed fourth in the 2002 Busan Asian Games.

The soft-spoken former PBA official won Executive of the Year honors during the first three years the award was given from 1993 to 1995.

The pro league paid tribute to Yanga before the start of the TNT-Converge match on Wednesday at the Philsports Arena.

2024-05-02T03:44:09Z dg43tfdfdgfd