'Pati ba naman sa basketball, hindi magawang kampihan?!' Hontiveros aired dismay on Duterte's pro-China stance in FIBA

Compiled photo from Inquirer and Philstar (ctto)





Senator Risa Hontiveros aired dismayed over President Duterte’s statement expressing doubts about Gilas Pilipinas' chances in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Duterte said "Wala, talo tayo, walang laban. Sa China na lang tayo magpusta. We will lose to Italy. Ang lalaki kaya ng mga gag*ng ‘yan." He said during a meeting to a group of Filipino-Chinese businessmen at Malacañang,:



Once again, Hontiveros criticized the President for refusing to take the side on our Filipino athletes on their 2019 FIBA entry while this not an issue on the territorial dispute with China but just an 
international basketball tournament.

“Gaano ba kahirap kampihan at ipagtanggol ang Pilipino? Pati ba naman sa basketball, hindi magawang kampihan?! #LabanGilas,” Risa wrote on her Facebook.

Meanwhile, In an interview with Mr. Paolo del Rosario of Cignal TV, he said that Gilas Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao maintained that the team was not bothered by Duterte's comments, which has since been criticized on social media.



"Well it doesn't really bother us, 'no. I guess you just have to take that from a positive point of view. Your attitude should be positive. We should be able to just keep believing in ourselves," said Guiao, who is with the national team in Spain for a training camp.

Coach Guiao said the team will just take President Duterte’s statement as a challenge rather than feel sorry for what he said.

"Pinaka-magandang approach diyan is, look at it as a challenge, just keep believing in what you can do," Guiao added.



"Whether we win or we lose, it's really the way you carry yourself, the way you put out a good performance. And who knows what can happen?"

Guiao also noted that "at the end of the day, I think the President is still going to be rooting for us anyway."



Gilas Pilipinas will open its campaign against Italy on August 31, before playing powerhouse Serbia on September 2, and Angola on September 4.



Source: Politiko


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