NLEX center Greg Slaughter is on the verge of making his PBA D-League debut after the league softened its stance on the citizenship documents he needs to get the green light.
Slaughter was initially rebuffed when he submitted a certificate re-acquisition/retention of Philippine citizenship issued by the Bureau of Immigration, with the league insisting that he present a recognition of citizenship like all Fil-foreign players in the developmental league.
The league, however, softened its stance when informed that a recognition of citizenship is not applicable to Slaughter since he had already taken his oath of Filipino citizenship when he was 17 years old prior to entering college. The seven-footer's father is American.
Now league officials are just waiting for an official letter from the Bureau of Immigration certifying that the document already issued to Slaughter is the one applicable to his case.
“Humingi ang PBA ng letter from Immigration stating that what documents Greg has, ‘yun talaga ‘yung dapat para sa kanya,” explained player agent Charlie Dy, adding the additional requirement is still being processed as of posting time.
With the development, Slaughter is set to make his much-awaited debut as early as November 13 in the Road Warriors’ next game against Jose Rizal University.
The mix-up over the BI documents forced Slaughter to miss the first two games of the four-time defending champions, which the Road Warriors nonetheless won in lopsided fashion.
The Ateneo star is expected to play a big role in NLEX’s bid to extend its dynasty in the league as his intimidating presence is a big boost to the Road Warriors’ defense, which head coach Boyet Fernandez strongly preaches.
Slaughter is eager to play in the league after leading the Blue Eagles to two successive UAAP championships. On Tuesday he tweeted, “Good win again today! Can’t wait to get out there!” on his account @GWillSlaughter after NLEX’s second win of the tournament.
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