Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) will now become the home of the much-anticipated 2021 PBA Philippine Cup resumption.
Commissioner Willie Marcial said that the school has agreed in principle to host the remaining games of the stalled conference following his meeting with its top brass Wednesday, led by DHVSU president Dr. Enrique Baking.
“Nag-meeting kami kanina. In principle, okay na kami,” he told Tiebreaker Times. “Pero siyempre, hinihintay ko pa rin ‘yung final confirmation.”
Also present in the meeting was Pampanga third district representative Dong Gonzales, a member of the school’s Board of Trustees.
“Mahaba ang naging meeting namin,” said Marcial. “Sinabi na namin ang mga protocols, kung ano ‘yung mga rerentahan. So, okay na sila.”
The fourth-year league chief said that the school has also allowed the PBA to install the necessary equipment in the gym for use. “Pwede na tayo maglagay na ng mga LED. Pwede na natin puntahan,” he shared.
Still, Marcial awaits the official approval of the DHVSU bosses, which he expects to arrive only a few days from now.
The league’s member teams entered Pampanga last Monday. They have begun their respective practices in preparation for the conference’s resumption, which is expected to take place in the first week of September.
It would mark the PBA’s return after pausing play last August 4 in accordance with health and safety protocols. Host Pasig City and the entire Metro Manila came under ECQ last August 6-20 due to the COVID-19 Delta variant.
Twenty-six elimination round games had already taken place before the halt, with Magnolia emerging as the leader with a 4-0 slate.
Now, the league will play for five days a week in DHVSU, with Mondays reserved for RT-PCR tests for all individuals.
The eliminations will likely conclude by September 19. And barring any delays, the season could be done by mid-October.
The league is playing in a closed-circuit set-up within Pampanga, far from the more costly full bubble last year in Clark.
