PASSI CITY — Setbacks sometimes lead to far better situations.
Such is the case for this city, whose years-long wait for the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) All-Star festivities proved so worth it as the league’s midseason spectacle coincided with their most important event.
Passi is currently celebrating the 28th anniversary of its cityhood through the month-long Pintados De Pasi Festival, and it couldn’t get any better for the local government to welcome as guests the PBA.
“Laking bagay talaga na ‘yung PBA, nandito sa Passi,” Mayor Stephen Palmares said in a press conference at the Midway Restaurant, Thursday.
“It is our 25th founding anniversary. Twenty-five years na naging city ang Passi in 1998.”
There’s much excitement going on in this part of Iloilo as it waited for three long years to see the league stage its All-Star Weekend here.
For the uninitiated, the PBA was supposed to hold the ASW in Passi in 2020 following the success of the Calasiao Games the previous year, where the North beat South, 185-170 in the highest-scoring All-Star Game in PBA history.
But the coronavirus pandemic happened.
Due to the global health crisis, the All-Star was understandably put on the back burner as the league firstly thought of ways on how to resume the stalled season, eventually playing in the Clark bubble for one conference.
Still, the annual event never left the PBA’s mind, since it’s integral to the Players’ Trust Fund. But it couldn’t run the show back in Season 46 due to the pandemic as the government imposed lockdowns following a spike in cases.
But as restrictions relaxed, and with the league finally reverting to the three-conference format, things fell into place and the All-Star finally made its way back, injecting new hope into all of Passi as well.
(C) PBA Images
Commissioner Willie Marcial didn’t forget the city, too.
Now, he has delivered on his promise.
“Pinuntahan ako nina Usec (DAR Undersecretary and former Passi mayor Jesry Palmares) kung iitutuloy po raw namin ang All-Star. Sinabi po namin, nangako po kami sa inyo na mag-All Star po kami diyan,” he said.
“Kaya po natuloy. Ang dami pang baka hindi ulit matuloy, baka biglang tumaas yung pandemya. Nagdasal lang ho kami. Ang dami naming pinagusapan ni Mayor, kung papabo, kung saan, kung anong gagawin.
“Pinangako namin ‘yun.”
