GLAD to know that Justin Brownlee’s naturalization process is moving on smoothly in the Senate. With no less than Senator Bong Go, an avid basketball fan, giving his all-out support, it won’t be long before the American basketball machine gets to be naturalized—definitely a boon to Philippine sports in the long haul.
Brownlee has proven himself in the game generally considered as our national sport. As Ginebra’s perennial import, he has given the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) squad championships of note.
“But beyond him becoming a pillar in our quest for global honors, in Brownlee, we would gain a new brother that we can proudly call Filipino,” Go said.
From the Senate nod will eventually follow the green light from the lower house for Brownlee’s full Filipino citizenship, making him eligible to play for Gilas Pilipinas in the sixth window of the Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers in February in Manila.
After that, he dons the national colors for the Fiba World Cup proper that we will co-host with Indonesia and Japan. Our own venues for the worlds set from August 25 to September 10 next year will be the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, MOA Arena in Pasay City and, for the final phase, the Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
Go, in joining hands with Sen. Bato dela Rosa for Brownlee’s naturalization process, emphasized the American’s love “for Filipinos, our culture and traditions” as he praised the resident Ginebra import for having “a latent pusong Pinoy poise and a never-say-die attitude every time he plays the game we all love.”
In his manifestation on November 21 on the Senate floor, Go, chair of the Senate committee on sports, cited Brownlee’s “incredible skills on the court that have earned him admiration from his coaches, teammates and basketball fans as well.”
It was in 2016 that Brownlee first came to the Philippines, giving Ginebra its first PBA title in eight years with a thrilling buzzer-beating trey. He has helped Ginebra win four more PBA crowns in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
In his speech, Go praised Brownlee for winning the PBA’s Best Import award in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup and in the 2021 Governors Cup.
With the 6-foot-6 Brownlee teaming up with the 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto, our chances appear bright in the Worlds proper that we last hosted in 1978.
Brownlee won’t disappoint.
THAT’S IT Paeng Nepomuceno, already the owner of a record four World Cup bowling trophies in 1976, 1980, 1992 and 1996, won the recent 16th Asian Seniors event in Kuala Lumpur. Lefty 6-foot-1 Paeng, 65, defeated 59 opponents in earning his 119th or more trophy since becoming world champion—at age 19—in 1976. Cheers!