Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) President Al Panlilio has expressed his gratefulness to the members of House Committee on Justice for their swift action regarding the application for naturalization of PBA import Justin Brownlee.
“In behalf of all basketball-loving Filipinos who eagerly await the sixth and final window of the FIBA World Cup, I would like to thank the House Committee On Justice, chaired by Rep. Juliet Marie De Leon Ferrer,” said Panlilio.
He also thanked Rep. Mikee Romero (1Pacman Partylist) for authoring House Bill 825, and to Deputy Speaker and Antipolo Rep. Robbie Puno and other members of the committee, for their prompt approval of the bill.
The bill – otherwise known as “An Act Granting Philippine Citizenship to Mr. Justin Donta Brownlee – will now be submitted to the House Committee on Rules for second reading.
Then it will go through the Senate before it reaches the desk of the President for his signature.
Once the President Marcos puts his stamp of approval, Brownlee would be playing in the sixth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers which will be played at the Philippine Arena in February.
Looking good in Barong Tagalog, Brownlee once again expressed his desire to play for Gilas Pilipinas during the hearing Wednesday at the Congress.
“The hometown crowd, I believe, would want nothing more than to savor two more Gilas PH triumphs — against Lebanon and Jordan — right in our own country to wrap up preparation and as prelude to the FIBA World Cup in August 2023,” said Panlilio.
Romero, the same “godfather” of the PH men’s basketball team that won the SEA Games gold in 2007 in Thailand, said: “Mr. Brownlee has brought enormous pride and joy to all of Filipino basketball fans through his hardwork in the PBA.”
Gilas is coming off big wins over Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
