I found this article written in 2004 in a Philipino magazine (pre Manalo):
Don't count
me out: Parica
By Manolo R. Iñigo
Inquirer News Service
PARDON Jose "Amang" Parica for complaining. He said the so-called experts of billiards didn't know what they were doing when they virtually ignored his past achievements at the pool table while heaping praises on his longtime rival, Efren "Bata" Reyes.
They were dumb, stressed the 57-year-old Parica, and even dumber to vote Reyes into the Billiards Congress of America (BCA) Hall of Fame in Las Vegas last year when the record will show that he has repeatedly beaten "The Magician" in previous meetings, winning about 70 percent of the time. And to make matters worse, Parica's name was not even mentioned during the Hall of Fame balloting, showing that there was no desire from among the BCA members to nominate him.
Also last year, Parica nearly won his first US Open 9-Ball championship, an event which Reyes topped in 1994. Parica placed second to Jeremy Jones, who beat him in the titular showdown, 11-4, after Jones "deliberately" slowed down play.
"He (Jones) shoots the ball, wipes his hand on a towel, powders his fingers, drinks some water, chalks his stick," Parica said in a postmortem interview with veteran writer Mike Geffner of Billiards Digest. "Every shot towel, powder, water, chalk. Whatever happened to the time clock?"
On this double whammy -- Reyes' induction into the Hall of Fame and his failure to win the US Open -- Parica said, "I've done everything I've wanted to do except two things: win the US Open and get into the Hall of Fame. After I have those, I'll be happy."
Now based in California, Parica is a true-blue Manileño. He was the country's No. 1 pool player before Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante became household names. A holder of an associate degree in engineering from Mapua Institute of Technology, Parica first broke into billiards prominence when he won the Philippine Open 8-Ball title in 1979. He later lined up his pockets with cold cash by posting sizzling victories in Japan, Taiwan and the United States, where he was dubbed "The Leader of the Philippine Invasion" which changed the face of the American 9-ball scene forever.
But Parica is mad that it has been his fate for years -- no matter what he does -- to live in the shadow of Reyes, who, in pool circles, is so highly revered. Parica, who paved the way for Reyes' stint in the US, just doesn't understand why people rate him so much lower than Reyes.
"Efren and I, we play so many times," Parica told Billiards Digest. "We play more than a hundred times gambling and I win most of the time. I think I'm a better player than Efren when it comes to playing for money. I mean, he's a great player and he's tough to beat, but he beats me only when I'm not ready. People just like his game because he's so creative. My game isn't a carnival. I am simple and consistent but dangerous."
Parica started big-time in the US in 1986 when he beat the legendary Nick Varner, 11-10, at the Clyde Childress Open in Lexington, Kentucky. Since then, he has won more than 100 big and small tournaments.
An original member of the powerhouse Puyat Sports Team bankrolled by brothers Popit and Putch Puyat, Parica played alongside Reyes, Bustamante, Leonardo Andam and Rodolfo Luat in the tough US circuit for more than two decades.
In 1997, Parica finally did the country proud when he was named the world's No. 1 billiards player, winning the seven-leg Camel Pro Billiards Tour and the bonus prize of 30,000 dollars. In the opening leg of the Camel Tour, Parica beat no other than Reyes at the Legends of 9-Ball Tournament held in Los Angeles.
Recalling Parica's victory over Reyes, pool writer Dave Thomson said, "Parica was clearly the underdog in the final (most anybody is when playing Reyes). But Reyes was in error mode, allowing Parica too many turns to the table of which he made great use. Partly it was Parica's break that led him to win. It seemed to send the 9-ball consistently toward the corner pocket, needing only a simple run to combo or carom it in."
Parica would later cite Luat as being influential in strengthening his break. "I noticed we are about the same size, and yet, he has so much power and accuracy," Parica said. "So I asked him to teach me how he did it. He showed me how and it worked for me."
He said he has no plans to retire in the near future. "If I'm not making any money anymore in pool, I'll either work with my wife (in home healthcare) or open a pool hall or a billiard store."
On his running rivalry with Reyes, Parica said neither he nor Reyes is the best Filipino player anymore. "It's Django Bustamante," he told Geffner.
