The PBA has finally relaxed its stance on Fil-foreigners.
Chairman Ricky Vargas said Tuesday that those particular players will now be looked at ‘less stringently,’ aiming to accommodate more of them starting the next draft mainly to hike the level of competition in the league.
“Kung natatandaan niyo, we had a study group to look at some of the changes and the policies of the board,” he told the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum.
“We will basically look at Fil-foreigners less stringently now.”
Vargas told the session presented by San Miguel Corp., MILO, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant, Daily Tribune, and PAGCOR that they are already eligible to join as long as they have Filipino blood and a Philippine passport.
There’s no need to secure declaration from the Bureau of Immigration and recognition papers from the Department of Justice — documents that take time to obtain that led to the disqualification of a number of players in the last draft.
“As long as they have Filipino blood and they can get their passport and they are able to come and play for us, we will look at them with fewer rules to disqualify them,” said the TNT Tropang Giga governor.
Also agreed on by the Board of Governors, still upon the recommendation of the study group led by vice chair Bobby Rosales, is to increase the number of Fil-foreigners allowed per team to seven — two more than the previous cap.
“And I think ang napag-aagreehan, we will also increase the number of Fil-foreigners in each team. Ngayon ata, lima. Abot ngayon… Sabi namin, a team is allowed to at least seven Fil-foreigners,” he shared.
“In that way, we will make the PBA exciting, we’ll bring the world to the PBA — parang NBA — but at the same time, trying to also balance it so that we are also able to give jobs to our players na nandito,” Vargas said.
The Season 47 Rookie Draft is planned to be held in March 2022.
“So, we’re looking forward to that in the next draft,” said Vargas, who’s been the league’s chairman since 2017.
“We understand na ang dami raw Fil-foreigners who are interested to come over and play in the PBA.”
Also set to be implemented next year is the rule that no Fil-foreigner can enter the draft after the age of 30.
