Vacations, staycations, traditions: PBA stars share Holy Week plans

MANILA, Philippines – From vacations, staycations, full on work mode, and to keeping with tradition – PBA players and coaches alike are spending the Holy Week break in a variety of ways. 

Alaska star Calvin Abueva, for one, will make use of the two-day break to travel to Batangas with his family, where they will spend time on the beach. 

“Yun lang naman ginagawa namin e (That’s what we always do),” he said, explaining the Aces continue practice through Holy Wednesday, March 23 before taking Maundy Thursday and Good Friday off, then resuming training on Black Saturday.  

Alaska assistant coach Louie Alas will travel Wednesday to Lucban in his home province of Quezon to visit the Kamay Ni Hesus Shrine, which will be his family’s last stop for the traditional Visita Iglesia or 7 Churches Visitation. 

“Ngayon lang kami makukumpleto na family (The family will be complete),” said Alas, whose son Kevin of NLEX will leave for Quezon on Thursday.

Some players will be having a traditional Holy Week. 

Rain or Shine star shooter Jeff Chan won’t be going on vacation as part of his sacrifice that’s a common practice for Filipinos, especially among the Roman Catholics. 

“Kaming family hindi kami usually nagbabakasyon pag Holy Week. Talagang sacrifice din,” Chan explained, adding he and his family will be abstaining from meat and going on Visita Iglesia as well. “Kasi for us si Lord nag-sacrifice tapos kami mage-enjoy. Parang hindi tama for us.”

(My family and I don’t usually take vacations during Holy Week. It’s our sacrifice. For us, the Lord sacrificed so why would we enjoy. It doesn’t feel right for us.) 

TNT star playmaker and Chan’s Gilas Pilipinas teammate Jayson Castro is likewise observing Holy Week tradition. 

“Uuwi ng Pampanga and vigil sa mga relatives ko kasama ng mama and sister ko (I’ll be going home to Pampanga and take part in a vigil with my relatives, my mother and my sister),” he shared, noting he won’t be watching the well-known crucifixion practices done in his hometown to immitate Jesus Christ’s suffering. 

“Sobrang religious kami so (gagawin namin) yung mga prusisyon (at) lagi kami nasa church (We’re very religious so we will be participating in the procession and will be at church).”

The Aces’ Dondon Hontiveros, meanwhile, will head home to Cebu for a quick respite from the game and to spend time with his family. 

“Tradition na namin na magkakasama and yung mama ko sobrang religious, sasamahan ko na lang siya sa kung anong tradition gagawin niya (It’s tradition for us to be together as a family and my mom is very religious, so I’ll accompany her as she goes through her traditions),” he shared, adding his family will take part in old traditions like reflecting on the 7 Last Words. 

Another Cebuano JR Quiñahan of the Elasto Painters will likewise fly home from Wednesday to Sunday. The big man is excited to spend Holy Week in Cebu after missing out last year. 

“Mag Visita Iglesia tsaka prusisyon sa Friday (We’ll go on Visita Iglesia and a procession on Friday),” said Quiñahan, who also shared he goes to Quiapo church every Friday.  

“Wala munang pork (No pork for now),” he shared his sacrifice. “Marami naman isda doon e, fresh naman yun (We have plenty of fish there and they’re fresh).”

“Lechon mga kaunting balat lang siguro (Perhaps a bit of skin from lechon),” he added in jest. 

Plenty of players choose to stay in Manila to avoid clogged roads to and from the city. 

Mahindra’s Niño Canaleta will be staying in the city to spend time with his barely a month old newborn. 

“Hindi rin ako makakaalis kasi hindi pa pwede maglalabas yung misis ko. Siguro sa house lang, dito sa Manila (We can’t leave because my wife still needs to rest. We’ll stay at hom here in Manila),” he said, saying this year his family won’t be doing their usual Holy Week tradition of going home to Tarlac and going on Visita Iglesia. 

The Enforcers have a 4-day break from Tuesday to Friday before resuming practice on Saturday.

Alaska’s veteran slotman Sonny Thoss appeared eager for some quality time with his kids during the break as he carried his son on his shoulders after his team’s loss to Mahindra Monday. 

“Just spending time with the family,” he shared his Holy Week plans. “I don’t really wanna go anywhere with the traffic and everything. Just staying in Manila doing whatever I can with the family.” 

“Just keeping it simple. The important thing is to be with the family. The kids like to go swimming somewhere, something simple, nothing fancy.” 

TNT head coach Jong Uichio as well as assistant coach Nash Racela are both planning to stay home as well, just like Rain or Shine assistant coach Caloy Garcia, who is looking forward to some TV time.

“Bahay lang ako, manonood ako ng mga series ko (I’ll just be at home watching my series). Daredevil season 2,” Garcia said.

Guys like the Painters’ Paul Lee and the Tropa’s Dylan Ababou will be using the brief lull in the conference to recover from injuries. Lee re-injured his left knee and is hoping it’s nothing serious while journeyman Ababou, who is starting to find his groove with TNT, will take care of some hamstring pain. – Rappler.com