By JONAS TERRADO
The PBA remains upbeat of its chances to salvage the suspended 45th season later this year despite the government’s decision to extend the General Community Quarantine on Metro Manila.
PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial believes that the quarantine restrictions will be eased in early-July, the same timetable he placed for teams to start training under strict health guidelines which were submitted to the Inter-Agency Task Force for approval.
“COVID-19 hasn’t been contained, and so I myself was expecting Metro Manila staying under GCQ for the rest of the month. Tingin ko talaga mga July pa mag-i-ease into less strict quarantine measures ang NCR,” said Marcial as quoted by the PBA’s official site.
“And July would not be late for our teams to have physical activities in the gym, leading hopefully to full practices and season return sooner than later,” he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte extended the GCQ placed on the National Capital Region after meeting members of the IATF late Monday.
Metro Manila will be under GCQ until June 30 before the government makes another decision on whether to keep the capital under the same quarantine measures or downgrade to a Modified General Community Quarantine.
The worst case scenario is for reverting back to Enhanced Community Quarantine which was imposed on Cebu City after being placed under GCQ from June 1 to 15.
Marcial and members of the league’s Board of Governors are expected to meet anew to discuss what measures they can take after GCQ extension.
The PBA chief is also set to meet player representatives of each teams and team managers in an open forum to express sentiments about plans to resume practices.
Under the submitted guidelines, practices will be split into sessions composed of four players, a trainer and a health officer each while COVID-19 testing is scheduled every 10 days.
A decision to restart the season which was halted after the Philippine Cup opener between San Miguel Beer and Magnolia will be made in August.
