A native of Davao City. Tanuan played collegiate basketball at Far Eastern University in the UAAP. In the PBL, he had stints with YCO Shine Masters and MIESCOR. He was part of the Philippine national team that took home the bronze medal during the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul, Korea.

Tanuan was drafted first overall by Purefoods in the 1988 PBA draft, where he served as backup to Ramon Fernandez and Jerry Codiñera and struggled in his rookie year. He blossomed when coach Baby Dalupan took over the coaching reins for the TJ Hotdogs. In 1991, he, along with another ex-Purefoods player, Al Solis, were lured by Swift to become the team's new franchise players. He became a journeyman for the next few years, with stops at Sta. Lucia, Pepsi Mega/Mobiline, and Pop Cola, and would win his last PBA championship with the Alaska Milkmen in the 1997 PBA Governors Cup. He later moved to the newly formed league MBA via the Negros Slashers.

Tanuan succumbed to a lingering kidney ailment on April 4, 2002. He had been in and out of the hospital for some time and was last confined at the New Era Hospital in Quezon City, battling a kidney disease that ended his career in 2000.

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