PRESIDENTIAL spokesman Atty. Harry Roque said in his press briefing on Friday that the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) should wait for the release of a joint administrative order (JAO) for amateur sports for the league to resume its stalled 2019-2020 Lakan season.
Roque, also the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) spokesperson, also said that the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority should also agree with the implementation of the league’s health protocols during the semifinals and championship games under a bubble set up.
“I just told them that the DOH should release first a JAO for amateur sports and the SBMA or the local government unit should agree to implement the health protocols,” Roque told BusinessMirror on Friday.
Roque said that the requirement would be easy for the MPBL.
“There’s already a JAO for professional sports and there’s nothing different,” he said. “It’s the same bubble.”
MPBL legal chief Atty. Brando Viernesto said they would wait for the IATF’s directive to the DOH to secure a JAO for amateur sports because they are not the only amateur sports league that are hoping to return to action.
“We are not alone in requesting for exemption—there’s also the volleyball amateur league,” said Viernesto, referring to the Philippine Super Liga which is eyeing a beach volleyball tournament later this month also in Subic.
“Hopefully by March we will resume the games,” Viernesto said.
The MPBL needs to complete the sudden-death semifinal Game Five between the Northern division’s San Juan Knights and Makati City Skyscrappers and the Southern division’s Davao Occidental Tigers and Basilan Steels and the best-of-three finals to wrap up the season.
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