By REYNALD MAGALLON
Justin Brownlee is now officially a naturalized Filipino.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos has signed House Bill No. 6224 or the proposed measure that grants the Barangay Ginebra resident import Filipino citizenship into a law on Thursday, Jan. 12.
The Senate approved the bill seeking for his Filipino citizenship last December, getting 22 affirmative votes without any objections.
With the development, Brownlee can now start processing his Philippine passport along with his other papers so that he can finally suit up for Gilas Pilipinas where he is set to join Ateneo big man Ange Kouame as part of the national team’s pool of naturalized players.
Brownlee is expected to beef up Gilas for the sixth and final window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers where it is scheduled to face the top teams from the Middle East in Lebanon and Jordan at the Philippine Arena on Feb. 25 and Feb. 28 respectively.
The three-time PBA Best Import winner is filling in the void left by the unavailability of Jordan Clarkson due to the NBA still ongoing during the qualifier.
Aside from the final window, Brownlee is also being eyed to reinforce the national team in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games where the Filipinos are looking to reclaim the lost glory following an embarrassing defeat to Indonesia at the final which ended the country’s 31 year reign in the sport in the biennial meet.
