By REYNALD MAGALLON
The basketball community on Thursday rejoiced after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos signed House Bill No. 6224 or the proposed measure that grants the Barangay Ginebra resident import Filipino citizenship into a law.
“It’s the victory for Philippine sports particularly in basketball,” said Rep. Mikee Romero, who led the initiative in the House of Representatives for Brownlee’s naturalization. “Brownlee is now officially a Filipino, so thank you President Bong Bong Marcos.”
Romero also lauded the effort of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and the Senate for making every Filipino’s wish into a reality.
“Lahat nagdadasal para maging naturalized Filipino si Brownlee para makabawi tayong sa SEA Games,” added the 1Pacman Partylist representative.
Romero’s excitement was shared by all basketball fans in the country, saying it’s a huge boost to Gilas campaign abroad.
“It definitely would strengthen our Gilas lineup for the upcoming February W6 Qualifiers. Both chambers in Congress enthusiastically worked hard and fast for the passage of Brownlee’s Naturalization – Sen Francis Tolentino, Chair of Senate Justice Committee and Congresswoman Juliet Marie de Leon Ferrer, Chair of the Congress Justice Committee successfully collaborated with their respective colleagues in passing the Brownlee bill,” said SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios.
“And of course, PBBM manifested his desire to make the National Team more competitive by signing it into law. The SBP and the whole nation, particularly our millions of Basketball fans, sincerely thank our leaders for their valuable support,” added Barrios.
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 gold following a silver medal finish last year which ended the country’s 31 year reign in the sport in the biennial meet.
