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    Rike, Laput share 'bloody hard, stressful' process of securing DoJ, BI papers

    Difficult process Fil-foreign applicants go through to be eligible for PBA draft
    Mar 8, 2021
    PHOTO: Jerome AscaƱo

    JUST how difficult was the process of securing necessary citizenship documents for the Fil-foreign applicants?

    It's quite a tedious one, really.

    Troy Rike and James Laput, two of the Fil-foreign big men joining this year's class, shared to The Prospects Pod how hard it was for them to secure the pertinent papers the PBA requires from them in the leadup to the March 14 draft.

    "It was really tough," said Rike. "It was a lot of paperwork and to be really honest, that doesn’t really make sense. (The Bureau of Immigration) kept on asking about my parents' marriage certificate and I was like, 'What does this have to do with my citizenship?'

    "That’s just kind of an example on how many paperwork (we have to do and) it's just endless."

    The PBA requires Fil-foreign applicants as well as players born overseas to submit both the Certificate of Recognition as a Filipino Citizen and Affirmation as Filipino Citizen from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) document proving their Filipino citizenship.

    The process, however, is more headscratching for Filipinos born overseas, even if one already has a Philippine passport at hand.

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    Rike, a 6-foot-8 center from Wake Forest and National University, said that it took him numerous back-and-forth trips to the US just to get his papers fixed.

    Laput, a 6-foot-10 big man from Young Harris College and La Salle, could empathize as he also endured the same problems.

    The Fil-Aussie slotman shared, "I was still in the D-League at that time, so it was January 2020 and my agent PJ Pilares called me and Jamie (Malonzo) and says, 'Hey, I need you to meet me up at the Bureau of Immigration because we need to get some documents for you. We need to meet a lawyer there and settle some stuff.'

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    "So I woke up at 8 a.m. and got there, and they both looked at me wearing shorts and they weren't letting me in to the Bureau of Immigration. I had to go home and put on some pants just to get into this building?"

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      Adding to the headaches that Fil-foreigners had to deal with was the COVID-19 pandemic making it harder to get schedules alone.

      "That whole process is bloody hard, and (in a pandemic) multiplied by a thousand. That's exactly what Fil-foreigners are feeling," said Laput. "Having to go to this place, and go to the US and to Philippines and back to the US, it's a struggle."

      Only 21 of the 31 Fil-foreign applicants were able to furnish those documents. Among those unable to secure the citizenship papers were potential first-rounders Jason Brickman, Jeremiah Gray, Taylor Statham, and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser.

      Their losses left a big dent on the 86-man strong class qualified to be drafted for the draft exercise on Sunday.

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        Rike said that he understood that rules are rules and these processes need to be done.

        "The PBA and the government are in a tough situation because you want to make sure things are done the right way," the Fil-Am banger said.

        Still, Rike couldn't help but feel for the others who had to go through the same quandary he and Laput went through to procure those papers.

        "I emphatize with them having to go through that, but I think for anyone, even for people not in the debatable kind of situation, it’s a lot of work," he said. "That was a stressful period for me and I’m happy to have it done.

        "But I emphatize with the people who have been through it cause it's a tough process."

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        PHOTO: Jerome AscaƱo
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