MVP to grace PSSBC rites

Tycoon and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Manny V. Pangilinan will be the special guest when the 3rd Philippine Secondary School Basketball Championship (PSSBC) Ironcon Builders Cup fires off this Saturday at Chiang Kai Shek College gym in Tondo, Manila.

Aside from Pangilinan, who chairs PLDT and Smart Communications, also invited to grace the opening rites are PBA chair Pato Gregorio, Ricky Vargas of Talk ’N Text and SBP executive director Sonny Barrios.

The noontime opening will also feature the Gilas Pilipinas team led by coach Chot Reyes and team skipper Jimmy Alapag. They will receive the P1-million bonus pledged by three of the PSSBC’s governors—Hapee Toothpaste’s Dr. Cecilio Pedro, Blackwater-Ever Bilena’s Dioceldo Sy and Freego’s Eduard Tio—for their inspiring performance in the last September’s Fiba World Cup in Spain.

“It is with great pride that we welcome Mr. Pangilinan. He’s the one who encouraged us to bond together and to put up this tournament,” said PSSBC chair Jimi Lim.

With the support of other Fil-Chinese businessmen, including Rain or Shine’s Terry Que, Dickies Underwear’s Rudy Yu, Jumbo Plastic Linoleum’s Jimmy dela Cruz and MEC Computers’ Leoncio Chua, the league has metamorphosed into a major tournament among high school basketball teams.

The league enjoys TV coverage (Aksyon 5) but requires no participation fee from the top four teams of the UAAP, NCAA and the Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball League.