Bringing PBA teams’ practices to Batangas was an idea pitched by Barangay Ginebra assistant coach Richard Del Rosario as the province is placed under the less strict general community quarantine (GCQ) until the end of May.
No less than Gin Kings governor Alfrancis Chua has expressed his support towards such, citing Batangas’ proximity through the South Luzon Expressway, STAR Tollway, and the Metro Manila Skyway.
But if he would have his way, the San Miguel Corporation sports director still prefers to have ball clubs conduct practices in the metro.
Metro Manila and the nearby provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and Laguna are still under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until May 14, and it remains to be seen whether or not it will be extended.
But if ever the NCR Plus Bubble will be put under GCQ, then that should be good news for the league as teams have been allowed by the Inter-Agency Task Force to conduct scrimmages in GCQ and MGCQ areas.
“Sana lang, ‘pag nagkaroon ho tayo ng tsansa na maging open na tayo rito sa Metro Manila, eh mas maganda ho siguro kung sa kanya-kanyang gym mag-ensayo, kanya-kanyang uwi rin,” he told The Chasedown.
Ginebra had been training at Upper Deck Gym in Pasig, San Miguel at Acropolis, and Magnolia at SGS Gym in Quezon City before batch trainings were suspended last April 1 due to the implementation of enhanced community quarantine.
Chua then voiced out his concerns as to why he’s a tad skeptical in conducting workouts in areas outside NCR Plus Bubble.
“Pag mas malapit po yung ensayo, pagtapos ng ensayo uuwi na yan. ‘Pag malayo ‘yung ensayo, baka magutom, mag-stop over pa, dun pa magkalintik-lintik na may mahawa ‘di ba, magkaroon ng COVID,” he explained.
“Mas malayo ang ensayo kasi mas safe ‘to, tama ‘yun no. But sa’kin, mas malapit mas maganda. Sariling opinyon ko lang ho ito.”
Still, heading to the province down south remains a viable option. And Chua is now studying options on player transport to the venues.
“Actually, pinagiisipan ko, ‘no,” he said.
“‘Yung kanya-kanyang punta, sinabi mas mahirap, pero at the same time pwedeng mas safe eh. Because individual e. Pag isang bus, ‘pag isa lang positive, e positive lahat yun.”
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