Batangas City opens its gates for PBA team practices

The PBA takes a step closer to opening its 46th season as Batangas City opens its gates for ball clubs to train inside the city once all the protocols are finalized, the league announced on Sunday, May 2.

Commissioner Willie Marcial said Batangas City Mayor Beverley Dimacuha and 5th District Representative Marvey Marino gave the go signal during their initial talks and committed Batangas City Coliseum and the Batangas State University Gym as potential training venues for PBA teams.

“Okay na ang LGU (local government unit). JAO (Joint Administrative Order from the Department of Health, Games and Amusements Board, and Philippine Sports Commission) na lang, and maybe our teams can start practices middle of May,” said Marcial.

(It’s all good on the local government’s end. We’re just waiting for the Joint Administrative Order, and maybe our teams can start practices middle of May.)   

According to Marcial, at least six to seven teams are expected to conduct their training in Batangas, while a couple of teams expressed interest to form a camp in Laoag.

The commissioner is also expected to personally meet Dimacuha and Marino in the following days to discuss the guidelines for the teams that will train in the city. Batangas is still under general community quarantine until May 15.

PBA officials hope the teams can start holding scrimmages midway through May as it eyes a June kickoff for the new season of the Philippine Cup.

The opening day of the season was delayed multiple times due to the spike of COVID-19 cases in “NCR Plus” – Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan – which remains under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

The Philippine Cup was originally scheduled to begin on April 9, but it was pushed back to April 11, then to April 18. The league eventually scratched the April launch when the government announced the extension of quarantine.

Just a few days before securing the training location in Batangas, the PBA’s return plans also got a huge boost after Marcial announced that vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr will provide assistance in procuring coronavirus vaccines for their vaccination program.

Aside from talking to the Batangas officials, Marcial also had a conversation with GAB chairman Abraham Mitra on Saturday, May 1.

“Chairman Baham said he will review the protocols and guidelines for each of the different quarantine levels,” said Marcial. – Rappler.com