NorthPort coach Pido Jarencio. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—NorthPort head coach Pido Jarencio tested positive for COVID-19 along with six other coaches leaving team manager Bonnie Tan to take the reins as the Batang Pier see action in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup.
Jarencio said that he and the other coaches contracted the virus while in Pampanga and they chose to go back to their respective homes in Metro Manila to undergo quarantine.
“My condition’s been improving, I’ve already spent a lot of time in quarantine here in Manila,” said Jarencio in Filipino Thursday. “We could’ve spent quarantine in Pampanga but they [the authorities] required us to stay in a hospital, I didn’t like that, so I just isolated myself at home and spend quarantine here.”
Jarencio speculated that he got the virus even before he got the test results as he was already feeling under the weather.
“Right now I’m recovering. I just have a little bit of cough.”
Jarencio’s absence meant Tan will be calling the shots for the Batang Pier who, as of posting, are playing against Blackwater for their first game since July 25 when the league still played at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
They did not play in the first week of the resumption.
“I’m not worried about Bonnie, he can handle himself and he knows what he’s doing,” said Jarencio of Tan, who led Letran to the NCAA basketball title in 2019.
“I trust not only Bonnie but the whole team, that’s our team.”
The Batang Pier hold a 1-3 record before Thursday’s game.