Former Pros: Tony De la Cerna

Antonio "Tony" De la Cerna played in only one season in the PBA. He was the third round pick of the Purefoods Hotdogs in the talent-rich 1989 PBA Draft. He was one of three rookies of the Purefoods squad, the others being Nelson Asaytono and Dindo Pumaren, drafted in the first and second round, respectively. He was known as a hotshot in the amateur ranks but never found great opportunity to display his wares on the court. He was used sparingly, appearing in only a total of 16 games averaging 2.9 ppg on a team that already had Jojo Lastimosa and Glenn Capacio. The next season, he did not make it back to the league.

De la Cerna was born on December 27, 1962. He first made waves during the inter-collegiate championships in 1984. Dela Cerna starred for the University of Baguio Cardinals and immediately impressed a lot of observers when he averaged 35 ppg in the tourney. UB did not win the National Intercollegiate title but De la Cerna's performance drew a lot of raves. Right after the championships, three PABL teams cornered dela Cerna and went all out to hire the services of the 6-0 swingman from UB. These teams were CF Sharp coached by Larry Albano, ESO Marketing handled by Chuck Barreiro and Masagana 99 mentored by Deputy Minister Ding Panganiban. Of the three teams, CF Sharp turned out to be successful in hiring dela Cerna. Tony, together with UB teammate Gideon Mamalio, saw action for the shippers during the National Seniors tournament. Unfortunately, CF Sharp placed third behind eventual champion Masagana 99 and runner-up Development Bank of Rizal.