Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Willie Marcial is scheduled to have a crucial meeting at Malacañang on Wednesday in the hopes of securing a possible go-signal to finally kick off its 46th season.
Marcial will be accompanied by Barangay Ginebra governor Alfrancis Chua when they visit the Palace and talk with Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Senator Bong Go.
The league chief hopes to have a clearer picture on how the season will unravel once Marcial gets to lay everything on the table during their talk with the top two government executives.
“Siguro after naming mag-usap sa Malacañang, after one or two days may kaunting liwanag na kung saan ang direksyon natin,” said Marcial in his appearance in the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association online Forum on Tuesday.
Marcial will emphasize during the meeting how Asia’s pioneering pro league was able to mount a successful bubble season last year in Clark where it restarted the Philippine Cup.
“Ipapakita namin at ie-explain namin na successful ang bubble, nagawa natin. And walang bulilyaso na nangyari (sa bubble), so sana ma-reward tayo sa ginawa natin,” added the commissioner in the public sports program presented by San Miguel Corporation, MILO, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
The PBA remains firm in its approach to have all players, coaches, and staff be vaccinated before starting the season, although holding another bubble remains an option as a last recourse.
Marcial said in the Forum powered by Smart and Upstream Media as official webcast partner that Ilocos Norte and Antipolo are among those being considered to be the bubble venue, along with another Local Government Unit, which he refused to name at the moment.
If finally allowed to play by the Inter-Agency Task Force, the league is bound to implement an even stricter list of protocols compared to the one it had last year.
“Sigurado mahigpit ang protocols natin lalo na kung wala pa tayong vaccines,” Marcial said, adding hopefully the vaccines ordered by the league in its tie-up with Philippine Red Cross will arrive in either May or June in time for the season opener.
