BY JONAS TERRADO
The city of Passi in Iloilo province was selected to host the PBA All-Star Weekend for the first time, Commissioner Willie Marcial said.
Marcial bared the extravaganza highlighted by the All-Star Game will be held in the second week of July at the City of Passi Arena which has a capacity of 2,000.
Other events slated are the Skills Challenge, the game between some of the league’s young stars and outreach activities.
The All-Star could be held after the season-opening Philippine Cup which opens March 1 or during the midseason Commissioner’s Cup.
A PBA conference usually takes at least four months to be completed.
It will be the third time that Iloilo province will host the All-Star, having staged the event in 2000 and 2018 at the San Agustin Gym in Iloilo City.
Passi is also the fifth city, town or island in the Visayas to host the game, joining Iloilo City, Cebu City (1998 and 2004), Bacolod (2008), Boracay (2011) and Lapu-Lapu City (2017).
Passi City previously held an out-of-town game in September 2018 when TNT KaTropa faced Rain or Shine before a packed crowd.
The arena was completed months before the said PBA game that saw TNT winning 110-104.
Last season’s All-Star was held in Calasiao, Pangasinan as the PBA reverted back to a single-venue hosting following a three-leg series the previous two editions.
Barangay Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar and San Miguel Beer’s Arwind Santos shared MVP honors as the North defeated the South, 185-170, at the Calasiao Sports Complex.
