THE PBA will askteams to exercise prudence and stick to safety protocols when the league resumes its Philippine Cup play in Pampanga.
According to PBA officials, they will be mainly leaving it up to the league and, more importantly, teams to police their own ranks and see to it that the conference runs virus-free.
“It will depend sa disiplina ng team,” said PBA Deputy Commissioner and Operations chief Eric Castro, who informed the team managers of the ground rules to be implemented in Pampanga once the tournament resumes there.
“We have asked the team managers to police their own teams dahil talagang kahit nga sobrang ingat tinatamaan pa rin,” added Castro.
“Walang safe right now, kung tatamaan ka, tatamaan ka kaya talagang bite the bullet tayo and all the health and safety protocols must be strictly followed.”
PBA Vice Chairman Bobby Rosales wholeheartedly agreed, saying: “You’ll have to rely on the honesty system. Kahit dito sa NCR, hindi mo masabi kung talagang na-i-implement ‘yung mga protocols, pero iyon ang ine-emphasize namin noon pa.
“Kailangan obserbahan talaga ang protocols. Kung lalala pa iyan, di walang laro,” added the Terrafirma executive.
Since pre-season practices began in earnest last mid-May, the PBAhas ordered all league and team personnel to register in two apps that would track their movements.
Still, the pro league has seen some infections during the mandatory weekly testing after the season-opening conference started last July 16, causing some changes in game schedules while the involved teams were quarantined prior to re-testing.
Then came the bigger blow when the PBA decided to voluntarily halt play temporarily starting last Aug 4, after it was announced the government would be placing the National Capital Region under ECQ, which forbids indoor sports events, from Aug. 6-20.
Since it is only allowed to play in areas under GCQ or MGCQ, the PBA ultimately settled for Pampanga since that province is under MGCQ, the lowest quarantine level.
The game and practice venues in Pampanga are still to be decided on, with the projected resumption date slated on the last week of this month.
The set-up for the teams would be similar to the closed-circuit lined up for them in NCR, a home-venue-home routine. The only difference is, it would be called a semi-bubble concept since the teams would limit their movements to their accommodation, game or practice venue and back.
“Lahat ng teams sa Pampanga. Maghahanap ng accommodation somewhere near the venue. Depende kung makakakuha ng hotel, or bahay sigurong mauupahan,” explained Rosales.
That kind of set-up still gnaws at league officials, who remain worried the virus could still work its way into the teams.
“Kaya kailangan talaga doble, o tripleng ingat,” said Rosales. “Kapag na-tsamabahan ka hindi lang ikaw kundi marami ang apektado.”
