By HANNAH TORREGOZA
The Senate has approved on third and final reading the bill granting Ginebra resident import Justin Donta Brownlee’s bid to gain Filipino citizenship on Monday, December 12.
House Bill No. 6224, which seeks to naturalize Brownlee, garnered 21 affirmative votes, without any abstentions, and without amendments.
The bill will now be transmitted to the Office of the President for signing into law.
Sen. Sonny Angara, one of the authors of the bill, said Brownlee will beef up the roster of Gilas Pilipinas during the sixth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers in February.
“With Brownlee as part of Gilas, we will be able to maintain the momentum going into the sixth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers this February,” Angara said in his sponsorship speech.
“Things are definitely looking up for Philippine basketball and with the right amount support, our resurgence in the world hoops stage could definitely become a reality sooner than later,” he added.
Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, also said he is confident Brownlee’s naturalization would be an advantage to the Philippine basketball team.
“With Justin Brownlee on our side, we can bolster our chances in various international competitions kasama na dyan ang (including the) FIBA 2023 na isa po tayo sa mga host (wherein we are one of the hosts),” Go said also in his speech.
“At stake po dito ang ating bayan, sana ay pumasok tayo sa Final Eight at manalo (At stake here is our nation, I hope we can qualify in the Final Eight and win),” Go added.
“To say that Mr. Brownlee is an outstanding basketball player is an understatement,” Sen. Francis Tolentino also said in his privilege speech.
“He will surely reinforce the Gilas team in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers next year. As attested by his coaches and colleagues, he has continuously been attending Gilas practices since September despite knowing that he might not be able to play in the FIBA World Cup come 2023,” Tolentino added.
Being a naturalized citizen, Tolentino said he is also looking forward to Brownlee serving as a Reserve Officer of the Philippine Army.