PBA begins Covid-19 info drive

MANILA – The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has launched its own campaign in helping curb the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Titled “Ituloy ang Laban”, the drive aims to continuously inform the people on what to do amid the pandemic as the league hopes to finally begin its 46th season.

The PBA officials, coaches, and players have been using social media to scatter the information with the hashtag #PBAItuloyAngLaban, a slight tweak from the #PBA TuloyAngLaban hashtag the league when it resumed its 45th season inside a bubble in Angeles City last year.

“Inilunsad natin ang #PBAItuloyAngLaban upang bigyan diin ang kahalagahan ng pagsunod nating lahat sa mga safety protocols na ipinatutupad ng gobyerno. Ito lang ang paraan upang mapababa natin ang pagkalat ng (We launched the #PBAItuloyAngLaban to reiterate the importance of following the safety protocols being implemented by the government. This is the only way for us to minimize the spread of the) coronavirus,” PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial said on Wednesday.

He added that this is also their contribution to the government’s Covid-19 fight as they await the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) for them to open the season hopefully by June.

In a meeting with Marcial and San Miguel Corporation sports director Alfrancis Chua last week, also Ginebra’s representative to the PBA board of governors, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Senator Bong Go said the league can only begin its season if the number of active Covid-19 cases continues to dwindle.

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, the situation remains on a good track as the active cases are down to 62,713 after 8,961 more recoveries have been tallied. The trend continues downward with only 5,685 new cases confirmed.

Marcial is hopeful that by May 16, when the modified enhanced community quarantine is expected to be lifted in the NCR Plus region, the teams can continue their practices.

“Hopefully, mapagbigyan tayo ng IATF sa ating kahilingan (the IATF will grant our request),” Marcial said.