{"id":58149,"date":"2023-08-25T20:43:19","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T12:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=58149"},"modified":"2023-08-25T20:43:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T12:43:21","slug":"pldt-eyes-to-bring-world-class-basketball-to-filipinos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2023\/08\/25\/pldt-eyes-to-bring-world-class-basketball-to-filipinos\/","title":{"rendered":"PLDT eyes to bring world-class basketball to Filipinos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a country where basketball is revered, known to be the world\u2019s home of makeshift courts, three Filipino gentlemen who either played hoops or cheered from the courtside, find themselves in the same corporate boardroom many years on strategizing their biggest coup yet: bringing over the world\u2019s biggest basketball event, the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, to the Philippines.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea was a slam dunk for PLDT Chairman and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) Chairman Emeritus Manuel V. Pangilinan, PLDT and Smart Communications President and CEO and SBP President Alfredo S. Panlilio, and PLDT Chief Leadership Transition Officer and SBP Vice President Ricky Vargas. It was a long-drawn out battle for global recognition, but their deep love for the sport, and the Philippines, eventually won them out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No stranger to the sport, Panlilio started playing basketball at a young age until he played for one conference under the Philippine Amateur Basketball League, before taking on top roles in the corporate world. \u201cI firmly believe that sports and corporate life call for the same values and principles — whether it\u2019s teamwork, excellence, having roles that you must fulfill, making sure that you\u2019re competent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Vargas was a huge fan of a team that competed against PLDT-backed Mobiline at the time. \u201cI was already hired by PLDT, but I would still go to the other team\u2019s games. I still sat on the opposite side. So, I guess they had no choice but to involve me in the team because I was cheering for the rival. That\u2019s how I got involved,\u201d he candidly shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Pangilinan, it is no secret that his love for sports was heavily influenced by his family, particularly his mother Soledad. \u201cMy mother was an avid fan of the San Beda team. She would watch games with the other mothers, who would prepare food for the team,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe applied the best business practices to the federation. We fixed the membership, corporatized, put in place sectoral representatives from the youth, the pros, women \u2013 all memorialized in the by-laws,\u201d said Pangilinan, founding chairman of SBP. \u201cI recall the final terms of agreement was done on a table napkin, early morning in a hotel in Bangkok, where we almost lost our lives because we almost got hit by a car beating a red light. There was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears,\u201d Pangilinan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the challenges that Philippine basketball faced in those years, their collective love for the sport and the Philippines won FIBA over. \u201cAll of us in that delegation wanted to prove to FIBA that we can fix our house. We can\u2019t fail the Philippines,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Placing a bid for a regional event in 2014 whetted SBP\u2019s appetite to try and bid for the 2019 World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI felt we had a very good presentation. It was just us and China, and I think we really did a good job. We wore the Barong Tagalog with a heart embroidered on it, we had a very passionate, emotional presentation. In fact, even their Hall of Famer Yao Ming of China already congratulated the Philippines. Unfortunately, we lost the bid,\u201d Panlilio recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLakas ng loob at bilib sa sarili na kaya namin. We almost made it. We almost made them believe,\u201d said Vargas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe won the soft part, hands down. When we got to the hard part, China offered eight cities, we only offered two; zillions of hotel rooms, airports,\u201d Pangilinan said. \u201cIt was heartbreaking, there was a board meeting after that, and they gave me a plaque of appreciation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, they did not give up. After a few weeks or months, the Philippine delegation came up with a multi-country hosting concept. \u201cThey told us that it\u2019s a creative approach. The rest is history,\u201d Pangilinan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMagic. It was just magic. We did not let go of the dream. Was there a specific formula? No. The team introduced itself to FIBA. FIBA understood our love for basketball,\u201d Vargas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the help of the government, along with partners in the private sector, organizations, and the fans, the Philippines is finally co-hosting this momentous event in basketball history. By December 2019, Smart Communications, the wireless unit of PLDT, becomes a global sponsor for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 from August 25 to September 10 in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a celebration of basketball cherished by Filipinos. However, basketball may be the main event, but it\u2019s us showcasing the Philippines to the world. Filipino basketball fans are very warm, very hospitable, very passionate. But I hope our guests can also see the country\u2019s beauty and potential,\u201d Panlilio shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to leave the impression that they\u2019re welcome to play in the Philippines, and we\u2019ll give them the best experience that they can have. We would like to thank them for coming over and trusting us in co-hosting the whole thing,\u201d Vargas added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often asked why they brought the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 to the Philippine shores, Pangilinan listed down many reasons, but emphasized that more than anything, this is a gift to the Filipino people who adore the sport. \u201cWhat we really wanted to do was to plow more fertile ground for legends to grow \u2013 to have our hard courts, our backboards and hoops, our fans bear witness to the story of Philippine basketball as it is written; to emphasize that this basketball-crazy country of ours belongs to the league of basketball nations, and for the Philippines to be a cradle of enduring legends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catch the whole story on Sa Wakas FIBA sa ‘Pinas! Premiers on September 2, 2023 on One News (6:30pm), One Sports \/ One Sports+ (7pm), and One PH (8pm).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support this endeavor, basketball fans can purchase their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 tickets for the Philippine Arena and the Smart-Araneta Coliseum games via ticketnet.com.ph<\/a>, while tickets for the SM Mall of Asia Arena contests are available via smtickets.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Placing a bid for a regional event in 2014 whetted SBP\u2019s appetite to try and bid for the 2019 World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":58156,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[379,343,96,2727,1656],"class_list":["post-58149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","tag-pldt","tag-smart-communications","tag-technology","tag-technology-adaption","tag-technology-investment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}