NBA All-Star Shawn Marion (in red warmers) shows off his basketball skills to the attendees of an anti-hazing, anti-bullying basketball clinic in Bicol.
MANILA, Philippines—Four-time NBA All-star Shawn Marion brought unforgettable fun and excitement to thousands of indigent Bicolano kids who joined the Ako Bicol-Operation Hoops Cares 2014: “Say No to Bullying and Hazing B-ball Camp” at the Ibalong Centrum for Recreation in Legazpi City, Albay.
The children were treated to an NBA-like atmosphere as Marion was introduced by an American rapper, while free t-shirts and other tokens courtesy of American-based NGO, Operation Hoops Cares, were thrown to the crowd. At least 35 youngsters selected throughout the Bicol region joined the basketball clinic conducted by Marion, capped with a mini-scrimmage.
Marion happily observed as the youngsters displayed their basketball skills. “It’s always great to teach and play with kids especially those from poor families and victims of disasters,” he said. In Marion’s personal Instagram account, he posted a photo of the “Standing Room Only” crowd that filled the Ibalong Centrum.
During the same event, thousands of Bicolano school children pledged “no” to bullying and hazing. Ako Bicol Representative Rodel Batocabe, Education Undersecretary Alberto Muyot and all school superintendents and officials from the entire Bicol region used their painted hands in stamping the pledge wall against bullying and hazing. Atty. Eugenio Villareal, chairman of the Movie, Television Review and Classification Board, was also present and expressed his agency’s full support to the anti-bullying and anti-hazing campaign.
“This is a memorable and life-changing event for our children. Aside from pledging to shun the culture of bullying and hazing in our schools, they were treated with the presence of an NBA All-star player which they never dreamed of seeing in person. No wonder the coliseum thundered when Marion appeared,” said Batocabe, one of the principal authors of RA 10627 otherwise known as the Anti-Bullying Law.
After the event, Marion and his party stayed at the Misibis Bay Resorts, a world famous five-star beach resort in Cagraray Island, Albay.
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