FIBA, You Can Never Go Wrong With The Philippines' Bid #PUSO2019

The internet has been a buzz for the past few months about the bid for FIBA World Cup in 2019. When Mr. Manny V. Pangilinan announced that the Philippines is one of the countries that will attempt to get the hosting rights of the most prestigious basketball sporting event in the world, me and my fellow kababayans around the globe has earnestly following the progress of our country’s chances. Now we are down to two countries. Philippines and China.

It is not the first time that we will be going against the most populous country in the world. Remember Spratlys? Yes? Good! But we will not go to that topic, let’s leave that issue to the people who are handling it. But the point is, we have an idea about the capabilities of our counter bidder country. For a nation that is known for having the fastest growing post-industrial economy, it is sure that they will banner their state of the art infrastructures not to mention their corporate partners being the core of their proposal to the FIBA Board, with that we will be at some point behind by leaps. But we will never go head to head on that matter, because that is not us, that is never our calling card.

As comical as it may sound to others, we, Philippines, will rely on our strength, and that is our PUSO (heart), for the FIBA World Cup 2019 bid. We will bank on something that can’t be seen physically but will be surely felt greatly. More than the grandest things that our foe is offering; we will offer one of a kind experience every basketball fan in other nations would never imagine existed. As the old saying goes, “The best and most beautiful things in life cannot be seen or touched; they must only be felt with heart.”

Sure we know that hosting will need us to shed funds, in fact it involves huge funds. Yet we are here, playing tug-of-war with China not because we have that enormous amount of money to spend. We don’t have much of that I believe. But we are holding one side of the rope, pulling it with our darndest best for the favor to come our side because we have more than that to offer. We badly want to get it because we want to share to the rest of the world the beauty that we find in the sport. We want to share to the whole globe how it inspires us, how it gives us hope, how it changes our lives and how it unites us for a common goal. We want to share our lives, more to say, our hearts.

I believe no other country can come close to our passion in the game of basketball. It has been part of every Filipino’s life. It has been part of our history. It has been part of our daily routine. Even after facing different controversies, it stood against the odds, it is standing against the odds and it will stand against the odds. 

NCAA’s, UAAP’s, PBA’s and other league's existence in the past years until the present, being awarded as the Most Valuable Fans in the FIBA World Cup, the numerous international leagues that we excelled in, not to mention the number of basketball courts in every corner of the streets, and the talents that are sprouting from the different areas in the country, these are all testaments of how much we are in love with the sport.

#PUSO2019 says it all. This is the heart that fuels us to love the game immeasurably. This is the heart that brought us to greater heights during FIBA Asia 2013 and in the World Cup last 2014. And we believe that this is the same heart that will bring the sport of basketball finally to its home, the Philippines.

To the FIBA Board, let us say this statement not with a tone of boasting but with a tone of pure love and passion. You can never go wrong entrusting the most esteemed basketball event in the world to the country that breathes in and out basketball. You can never go wrong.

To the SBP delegation in Tokyo, we are all behind you.
It's time to bring basketball home.

 #PUSO2019

#LabanPilipinas
#BringItHome