Gilbert Domingo Bulawan (August 25, 1986 – July 3, 2016) was a Filipino professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who played for the

Meralco Bolts The Meralco Bolts is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team began in 2010 after the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) acquired the PBA franchise of the Sta. Lucia Realtors. The team is one of three ...

Barako Bull Energy Cola The Barako Bull Energy were a Philippine Basketball Association team that began in 2002 as the FedEx Express. From its first season until 2005, the team was dubbed as the FedEx Express before changing to Air21 Express. From the 2009 PBA Fies ...

and Blackwater Elite of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA). He was drafted 17th overall in the 2011 PBA draft by the Alaska Aces.

College career

Bulawan played for the San Sebastian College–Recoletos men's senior basketball team from 2006 to 2010. In Season 85, He was one of the members of the San Sebastian Stags who won the title against then three-time defending champions San Beda Red Lions in a sweep 2–0.

Professional career

After Bulawan has finished his college career, he decided to apply for the 2011 PBA draft. In the draft, he was drafted 17th overall by the Aces before being traded to the Bolts. In June 2013, Bulawan was traded to

from Meralco in a three-team trade that also sent

Jared Dillinger Jared Ryan B. Dillinger (born January 6, 1984) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Dillinger is the second pick overall in the very talented draf ...

and Don Allado to Meralco. Later in the 2014 season, Bulawan was one of the players dropped by Barako, allowing him to join the

2014 PBA Expansion Draft The 2014 PBA Expansion Draft is the third expansion draft of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The draft was held on July 18, 2014, so that the newly founded teams Blackwater Elite and the Kia Sorento could acquire players for the 201 ...

, where he was picked 15th by Blackwater.

Death

On July 3, 2016, Bulawan died after collapsing while on team practice with Blackwater Elite. He was declared dead on arrival at

Capitol Medical Center Capitol Medical Center is a tertiary hospital located in Quezon City, Philippines. History The hospital was founded by Thelma N. Clemente, Luis C. Clemente and fellow medical professionals. The groundbreaking of the hospital took place on May 1, ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

. Bulawan is the youngest and very first active player to die in the PBA. The

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

said that Bulawan suffered from enlargement of the heart. Bulawan had a rare condition, atherosclerosis, which was rare enough that

ECG Electrocardiography is the process of producing an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), a recording of the heart's electrical activity. It is an electrogram of the heart which is a graph of voltage versus time of the electrical activity of the hear ...

tests and numerous team medical checks were unable to reveal his condition. Blackwater Elite owner

Dioceldo Sy Dioceldo S. Sy (born March 6, 1958) is a Filipino businessman, sportsman, and team owner of Blackwater Elite in the Philippine Basketball Association. He is the sole proprietor of Ever Bilena Cosmetics, Inc. which he established in 1983. Early ...

had asked the PBA for a small ceremony on its first game on the 2016 Governors' Cup for the retirement of Bulawan's jersey, #11.

PBA career statistics

Player Profile
at PBA-Online!

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align=left , Meralco , 11 , , 11.6 , , .455 , , .000 , , .667 , , 2.4 , , .2 , , .2 , , .1 , , 4.2 , - , align=left , , align=left , Meralco /

Barako Bull The Barako Bull Energy were a Philippine Basketball Association team that began in 2002 as the FedEx Express. From its first season until 2005, the team was dubbed as the FedEx Express before changing to Air21 Express. From the 2009 PBA Fies ...

, 13 , , 5.8 , , .308 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.1 , , .0 , , .0 , , .1 , , .7 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

Blackwater Blackwater or Black Water may refer to: Health and ecology * Blackwater (coal), liquid waste from coal preparation * Blackwater (waste), wastewater containing feces, urine, and flushwater from flush toilets * Blackwater fever, an acute kidney disea ...

, 19 , , 16.9 , , .409 , , .333 , , .529 , , 2.3 , , .7 , , .3 , , .3 , , 3.4 , - , align=left , , align=left , Blackwater , 9 , , 8.2 , , .235 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.9 , , .0 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.3 , - class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 52 , , 11.5 , , .393 , , .167 , , .556 , , 1.9 , , .3 , , .2 , , .1 , , 2.5

References