Coming from Guimaras

The capital of Guimaras, an island province in Western Visayas, is Jordan and rest assured, there is no affiliation with the basketball GOAT. Guimaras is where the first prize winner of our “Pasko Sa Enero” presented by PSC contest is from and Danilo Animas, Jr. is coming to Metro Manila with his wife to attend the awarding program at 10 a.m. this Sunday outside Starbucks Molito, Alabang. Danilo, 52, is a fire officer and sent his entry via e-mail from his home in Islander Village, Barangay San Miguel, Jordan. Basketball must really be in Danilo’s DNA considering where he lives.

Guimaras is known for its mangoes and in sports, the province’s best-known athlete is five-time SEA Games 3,000-meter steeplechase gold medalist Rene Herrera. At the 2012 London Olympics, Herrera competed in the 5,000-meter run and was the last finisher in his heat with a time of 14:44.11, compared to first placer Hayla Ibrahimov’s 13:25.23. Two runners from Eritrea and France failed to complete the distance. When Herrera crossed the finish line, he was all alone yet the audience burst into applause to recognize his effort and Great Britain’s Mo Farah walked up to him, raised his right hand as they both waved to the crowd.  Farah was third in the heat but later won the gold in the final.

Danilo, his wife, in-laws and aunt from Las Piñas will be at Sunday’s awarding to receive his first prize of P20,000 cash, a box of groceries from Sen. Bong Go and a big sack of goodies, including a gift pack from POC president Mayor Bambol Tolentino, Molten FIBA leather basketball and Nike shoes from SBP, coffee maker and Bluetooth speaker from PBA, Purefoods ham from the MVP Group, canned goods and San Mig Coffee from San Miguel Corp. and lots more. Animas will also join 19 other winners in a raffle where the prizes include a Manny Pacquiao personally autographed boxing glove, a JBL Bluetooth speaker from Phoenix PBA governor Atty. Raymond Zorrilla, a PBA backpack and an authentic retro LA Lakers jacket.

Danilo’s entry had the right answers to our three questions and his essay was entitled “PBA On The Road To Golden Age,” referring to the league’s 50th anniversary this year. “The PBA unites every citizen in our country,” he wrote. “Through basketball, Filipinos are a one nation in terms of political, cultural and social standing.”

Danilo said moving forward, the PBA should focus on improving its competitive balance, calling out “cellar dwellers” and “trade facilitators” to play with pride. He said the PBA should also adopt a more fan-oriented approach with lively audience participation in social media. Danilo suggested to introduce a more fast-paced style with the PBA employing FIBA rules (“more passing and less dribbling”) and making a foreign guest team a permanent fixture in the import conferences.