Presumptive president of the Philippines Mayor Duterte vows to give his all out support to the Philippine national basketball team, the Gilas Pilipinas squad on their dream of making it to Rio Olympics as they set to compete in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament which will be hosted by the Philippines at the MOA Arena from July 5-10, 2016.
During a courtesy call with the incoming President in Davao City, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas through executive director Sonny Barrios legal consultant Aga Francisco and regional director Boy Cua personally extend the invitation of SBP Pres. Manny V. Pangilinan to grace the FIBA Olympic Qualifier.
In an interview with Philippine Star Sonny Barrios stated “I just hand-carried handwritten MVP invite to him to the July OQT. I gave him an official OQT ball; he then autographed personal best wishes dedication to MVP on another ball,” Barrios told The STAR.
According to SBP they invited Mayor Duterte to watch the highly anticipated basketball event in the country if his schedule will allow him. During the meeting with the basketball executive, the 71-year-old Mayor Duterte proudly wore the Gilas Pilipinas jacket for the night and just joked that it was really cold in Davao so he needs the jacket.
Mayor Duterte was also featured in a latest video circulating online featuring the chief executive as one of the player of Gilas Pilipinas in the NBA2K game which went viral on various social media sites generating hundreds of thousands of views.
