Joaqui Trillo & son Luigi: Two Aces in a winning team

It isn’t just a father-and-son relationship that binds Joaqui Trillo with Luigi. Beyond family ties, their bond extends to the workplace, specifically Alaska’s basketball organization where Joaqui is the general manager and Luigi the Aces head coach. 

For Luigi, relating to his father as a boss isn’t a problem. There is mutual respect between them. They’re both professionals who know where to draw the line. When it comes to family bonding, Joaqui and Luigi are like two peas in a pod. At Alaska, they work at arm’s length with Luigi calling his superior “JLT” (Joaquin Llamas Trillo) and certainly not Pappy, which is the term of endearment at home.

Luigi, 37, is the oldest of four. Paolo, 35, comes next then Cheska, 34 and finally, Carlo, 31. Joaqui said life with the kids growing up revolved around sports, which has always been close to his heart.   

“Sports is in our genes,” said Joaqui. â€œMy father Antonio was invited to play varsity basketball for La Salle by coach Chito Calvo but preferred to study. My uncle Joseling played football for La Salle. On my mother’s side, my uncle played football for the national team and so did his son Eddie Llamas. I’ve always liked competition. When I was in fifth grade, I was a yoyo champion. In 1963, I was on the Philippine youth football team and in 1967, I won the La Salle five-kilometer marathon over 1,000 runners from the Luneta Grandstand to the Taft campus. In high school, I was on the varsity team for football, basketball and track. Then coach Tito Eduque told me to choose just one sport to focus on and I picked basketball.”

Joaqui   played  four  years with  the La Salle senior basketball team in  the NCAA under  Eduque. He came close to playing on a title team but Letran, bannered by the fabled Pineda brothers, quashed La Salle’s bid in 1970. Some of Joaqui’s varsity teammates were Miguel Bilbao, Doy Escober, Julee Lim, Dindo Guevara, Pitloy Mirasol, Caloy Valles, Bernie Berkenkotter, Ding de Villa and Raffy Esteva. Eventually, Joaqui coached La Salle from 1978 to 1980 and 1983-84. 

In 1990, Joaqui was invited by Alaska CEO Fred Uytengsu to head the basketball organization in a role similar to Jerry West’s with the Los Angeles Lakers. â€œThe year before, I spoke with Alaska manager Joel Aquino about joining as a coach but nothing happened until Fred called,” said Joaqui. â€œIt’s been a wonderful experience with Alaska. Now, we’ve won 14 PBA championships, the last with Luigi in the just-ended Commissioner’s Cup.”

Joaqui said through sports, he was able to teach his kids values that prepared them for life. â€œIt wasn’t difficult for the kids to like and embrace sports,” he said. “They’ve all grown up to be responsible achievers and I’m very proud of them from Luigi to Carlo. They’ve all made their mark in life.”

Luigi said his father is his forever idol. â€œI was two years old when my Mama Dada (Imelda Crisostomo) took me to watch Pappy coach La Salle and I fell asleep at the Rizal Coliseum, or at least that’s what I was told,” he said. â€œMy dad wore No. 10 when he played and I wore the same number. What I admire about my father is his positive attitude towards everything. He’s loved by everyone. He’s very generous, kind-hearted and easy-flowing. And his priority is family. I’m influenced by his love of children. When we were kids, he’d always take us out on weekends — to the beach, to playgrounds, whatever. There was time for work, sports and family.”

Luigi said there weren’t many major decisions he made without consulting his father. â€œWhen I thought of getting married, I was 25 and Ria (Tanjuatco) was 23,” he said. â€œWe were in love and we’d known each other for seven years. I asked my dad about it and he told me to take my time, to build a career. I listened to his advice and we finally got married a year later when we were more stable. Another major decision I made was ending my varsity career. I’d been a main player since high school but in college, I was hobbled by 60-year-old knees. Dad never pressured me to play, he left it up to me. Follow your heart, he told me. I think he would’ve preferred me to play on since we were headed for a championship. But I decided not to and he supported me all the way.”

Luigi said when he was in third grade, playing kids basketball for La Salle, he dreamed of wearing Air Jordan shoes. â€œIn our team, we all wore World Balance shoes but I borrowed a pair of Air Jordans, only my dad told me not to wear anything different, to stick with the team rules,” he said. â€œThat was a lesson I’ll never forget. Then, when I was in high school, my dad took me to a sports store. I really liked this pair of Adidas shoes. My dad bought it for me and I hugged him really tight. How I am now with my four kids was how he was with me, my brothers and sister. Now that I’m older, I find myself reaching out to my dad more, like a friend outside of the workplace. On weekends when there’s nothing to do, I call him and ask what he’s doing and we get together.”

Joaqui now has eight grandchildren. Luigi and Ria are blessed with four children Rocio (9), Mikel (5), Raquel (2) and Xabier (six months old).

At work, Luigi said it’s all business between father and son. â€œThere are advantages and disadvantages to being his son with Alaska,” he said. â€œI’m extra careful with what I do and I feel more pressure to achieve because I don’t want people to think I got the job through him. The truth is my dad was never involved in the decision to make me the head coach. Once in the locker room before a game, without anyone noticing, I subtly gestured, (requesting) if my dad could leave. It wasn’t a sign of disrespect. In the NBA, management leaves the locker room discussion to the coaches and players. It should be the same in the PBA. Guys get a little uptight when management is around. My dad understood the situation and quietly slipped out. Our relationship is so strong that he didn’t take offense.”

Luigi said he’s lucky that his mentors at Alaska prepared him for the future — his father, coach Tim Cone and Uytengsu. â€œI’ve been with the Alaska organization for 15 years now,” he said. â€œI learned a lot from coach Tim who equipped me with everything I needed to someday take over. My dad has always been supportive from day one. And Mr. Uytengsu has now become my mentor, guiding me, showing the way to the future, discussing how to make our franchise grow, studying problems and finding solutions.”

Luigi said at 23, he took the plunge to coach Adamson in the UAAP. â€œI thought about it a lot,” he said. â€œI wanted to strike it out on my own even if it meant coaching against the school I love, La Salle. I actually began coaching — at Southridge — even when I was still in college. But the chance to coach in the UAAP was for my future, this was going to be my profession. It was a big opportunity for me. In the first two years, we didn’t win a single game. Then in my third year, we began to show signs of recovery, winning thrice. We won five games in my fourth year and six in my fifth where we almost went to the Final Four, losing to UE with James Yap, Ronald Tubid and Nino Canaleta. At the University Games, we beat FEU.”

Other coaching opportunities came Luigi’s way. He was Tonichi Yturri’s assistant at Cebuana Lhuillier in the MBA and Jorge Gallent’s assistant at Absolute in the PBL. â€œI enjoyed the experience of being involved in building teams,” he said. â€œWe had a lot of runner-up finishes with Cebuana in the MBA, PBL and D-League. In the PBL, I was the Cebuana coach when we were swept by Harbour Centre whose players included Jayson Castro, J. C. Intal, Beau Belga and Ryan Arana. Our players were Ken Bono, Doug Kramer, Don Dulay and Macky Escalona. In the D-League, we lost to NLex and our players included Allein Maliksi, James Sena and Benedict Fernandez. I played four years with the La Salle varsity and twice, we finished second with coach Virgil Villavicencio then coach Jong Uichico. Now. I realize those heartbreaking finishes toughened me for the road ahead.”

Joaqui is slowly turning over the Alaska team management reins to Dickie Bachmann but remains on top of operations. When Joaqui retires, he knows the Alaska Aces will be in good hands with his son at the helm. It’s what Joaqui prepared Luigi for.