'Gilas center Marcus Douthit found love in Philippines'

MANILA, Philippines - The author of the law that grants Filipino citizenship to Gilas Pilipinas center Marcus Douthit praised the contributions of the naturalized player, whom he said has found love in the country and accepted the Filipino culture. 

Deputy Speaker Roberto Puno praised the athlete for his efforts in the recent FIBA-Asia Championship and asked support for future legislation that would continue the basketball program that was started with the Gilas center.

"The naturalization of Marcus Douthit was an integral part of a long-term program of the Samahang ng Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) that began in 2008. Among the programs in SBP, his naturalization was one of the measures undertaken by the organization to help ensure that the Philippine team would be able to turn out an impressive performance in the FIBA Asia Finals," Puno said.

The lawmaker said Douthit, who was granted Philippine citizenship on March 15, 2011, proved that his selection was a "wise decision" of SBP. He also praised the naturalized center for accepting the Filipino way of life.

"Marcus Douthit has embraced our culture and has become a Filipino in every way. His two children go to school in the Philippines. He has in fact, and he will hate me for mentioning this in a privilege speech—but I will say it anyway—he has in fact found love in the Philippines. He has contributed immensely to the country’s recent rise in FIBA rankings and his contributions to the country are, indeed, outstanding."

In his speech, Puno further urged Congress to naturalize at the minimum two players identified by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas for the national team that would serve as back up players to one another in case of injury.

Related story: Naturalized backups for Gilas sought in Congress

Douthit sustained a leg injury during their match-up with Qatar in the FIBA Asia Championships and aggravated it in the semi-finals game against Korea.

His absence in the finals was really felt by Gilas, which was pounded inside the paint by the tall Iranian squad bannered by seven-foot-two Hamed Haddadi, who notched 29 points and 16 rebounds and was named as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

But despite the silver-medal finish, Puno still thanked Gilas for putting the country back to the world basketball map.

"Thank you Gilas Pilipinas. Thank you for the gift of pride. The pride that comes with knowing that the Philippines is among the best in the world," he said.

In his Twitter account, Douthit also thanked the Filipino fans for not giving up on Gilas Pilipinas.

Hey to all the fans i just want to say thank for keeping the faith in me and gilas

— marcus douthit (@DouthitMarcus) August 12, 2013

We did it pilipinas

— marcus douthit (@DouthitMarcus) August 10, 2013