SAMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan said he was happy to be proven wrong after Gilas Pilipinas rebounded from a loss to Cambodia to win the 32nd Southeast Asian Games men's basketball gold medal.
READ: SBP chairman MVP expresses disgust over 'disgraceful' Gilas loss
After the Philippines' disappointing 68-78 loss to a Cambodian team of mostly naturalized players during pool play, MVP put out a rare tweet condemning a 'disgraceful game' from the Gilas players.
LOOK:
"What a disgraceful game for Gilas. An ignominious defeat which will be etched deeply in infamy. SBP - what happened," Pangilinan said.
But as the Philippines gained a measure of revenge over the Cambodian side with a vengeful 80-69 win for the gold medal, MVP was quick to reach out to Gilas head coach Chot Reyes to congratulate the squad.
"In my congratulatory text to Chot [Reyes], I did include my statement to him that I was happy to eat the harsh words I tweeted earlier about Gilas' defeat to Cambodia in the earlier game," MVP revealed to Cathy Yap-Yang in an interview with One News on Thursday.
"I'm very happy to be proven wrong. So he texted back, saying 'it's all part of the job' so that was a gracious reply to me," he added.
Albeit unable to watch the second half of the finals, Pangilinan kept track of the score and subsequently gave his flowers to the team for completing the 'huge job' of bringing home the gold.
"It's a tremendous feeling of relief [and I'm] very happy for Gilas and for the country. It was a huge job that Gilas did — a magnificent one, especially after the defeat from Cambodia in the first game," the SBP chairman emeritus said.
"So kudos to them and the coaching staff. I congratulated Chot and sent my warm regards to Coach Tim [Cone] and Coach Jong [Uichico] for steering the team to this championship."
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph