SOMEWHERE in Taiwan, Jason Brickman must be smiling.
It's the same case for Jeremiah Gray, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, and all the other Fil-foreign applicants who found their attempt to enter the PBA Rookie Draft thumbed down in the past because of an ancient, outdated rule.
In a landmark move, the PBA board of governors has finally decided to relax its eligibility rules for Fil-foreigners, accepting ownership of Philippine passports as evidence of Filipino nationality, which is the case anywhere in the world.
"As long as they have Filipino blood and they can get their passport, they are able to come and play for us," said league chairman Ricky Vargas.
Long time coming
It was a move that was a long time coming for the league, especially in the advent of basketball's globalization. The least it could do was swing the door open for players whose claim to Filipino lineage is undisputed.
Suddenly, players like Mikh McKinney, Caelan Tiongson, and Avery Scharer can take their act to the PBA and test their mettle against current stars like Jayson Castro and Paul Lee, if they choose to do so, without having to go through so much red tape in the country's immigration bureau.
It's no doubt a major relief for Fil-foreign players, given the difficulties of acquiring a Certificate of Recognition as Filipino Citizen from the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Affirmation of Recognition as Filipino Citizen from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
For decades, that tedious process, put in place at the height of the Fil-Sham controversy of the nineties, was no longer necessary. This is no longer the typewriter era where a foreigner with a Filipino-sounding surname or middle name can fake his citizenship and acquire a passport.
It's a noble first step, yet a lot of changes still need to be made. Take the limit of five Fil-foreigners per team rule which has now been extended to seven. We believe that cap is discriminatory and should be scrapped altogether.
It's a long-standing question that the PBA has yet to fullly address: what makes one a Filipino? What makes someone of mixed race less of a Filipino than the other? And why should he be treated any less?
Why do we celebrate the likes of Fil-Am Jordan Clarkson, yet frown upon the likes of Brickman, Gray, and the like?
"I like to think that I am a Filipino, that I am as good, a Filipino as anyone," started the speech The Anatomy of a Filipino by Prof. Felix Bautista.
The speech, which we encountered in school, focused on the very definition of being a Filipino despite mixed races, different upbringings, and foreign-sounding surnames. We'd like to believe that the powers-that-be in the PBA have refreshed their memories on this.
That speech ends, "And I am proud. Very, very proud, because underneath these names beats a Filipino heart." Let's just hope that the PBA truly feels the same way.
Reactionary as the move may be, there's no question that hey, it's a start. It is at the very least a recognition on the part of the PBA's leaders that the world of basketball is changing. And that it should change, too.
For the better.
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