MANILA, Philippines – Arwind Santos had one of the active longest streaks of consecutive games played in the PBA, but that ended no thanks to Korean barbecue. 

The former Most Valuable Player missed a game for the first time since 2016 as he sat out San Miguel’s clash with Rain or Shine in the 2019 Philippine Cup on Friday, February 1, due to food poisoning. 

“Nag-vomit at saka poops ako kaya hindi ako nakapaglaro. Nanghina ako. Parang diarrhea ba, ganoon,” Santos told reporters, saying the food poisoning was caused by the beef he ate at a Korean restaurant. 

(I vomited and I had loose bowel movement that’s why I wasn’t able to play. I felt weak. It’s like I had diarrhea.) 

According to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon, Santos held the seventh longest active streak of games played after seeing action in 132 straight contests since the 2016 Governors’ Cup. 

Minus the 37-year-old veteran, the Beermen absorbed a 98-108 loss to the Elasto Painters – which marked their third setback in 5 games. 

“Ganoon talaga eh. Hindi naman natin gusto magkasakit, ‘di ba? Eh natapat, nadali tayo noong pagkain,” Santos said. 

(That’s how it is. Nobody wants to get sick, right? It just happened because of the food I ate.) 

But Santos assured he will suit up the next game, especially now that the Beermen need him the most on the defensive end. 

“Hindi pa naman huli ang lahat. Kailangan ano kami, mag-ano, regroup. ‘Di maganda ‘yung talo. Depensa daw. So tignan natin kung maayos natin.” 

(It’s not the end. We just need to regroup. It was a bad loss because of our defense. We’ll see if we can fix the problems.) 

San Miguel seeks to end its two-game skid against Blackwater on Wednesday, February 6, at the Mall of Asia Arena. – Rappler.com