Behind the scenes

The workhorse in charge of hospitality during the recent FIBA-Asia Championships was travel agency operator Andrew Teh who has tirelessly undertaken tour projects for the Gilas squad since 2007. Teh’s company is called Global Link Travel and Tours which has offices in Manila and Cebu. During the week, Teh does business in Manila and on weekends, returns home to Cebu where his family lives. It is in Cebu where Global Link deploys seven tourist buses.

About 10 weeks before the FIBA-Asia Championships began, Teh got the job of heading the hospitality team. He assembled a crack group of about 45 many of whom were seconded from the Philippine Sports Commission and others recommended by Local Organizing Committee deputy CEO Moying Martelino. His treasurer was Pia de los Reyes and head of liaison was Eleanor Navarro. Teh designated a liaison officer for each of the 15 participating teams and the visiting VIPs from FIBA and FIBA-Asia.

Teh mobilized 13 tourist buses to ferry the teams from the airport to the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati to the practice and playing venues and back. Private cars were also mobilized for the VIPs and Teh mentioned that SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan himself lent his own vehicles to take the guests around. Others who volunteered their vehicles for use by the visitors included SBP vice chairman Ricky Vargas, Maynilad senior vice president Patrick Gregorio and Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio.

“We took care of providing for two single and seven twin rooms for every team at the Dusit Thani,” said Teh. “The bill for 105 twin and 30 single rooms amounted to about P6.7 Million. We also provided food at the hotel with two serving stations at the ballroom. Every day, we opened food service for breakfast at 6 a.m. The breakfast service was supposed to be only up to 10 a.m. but we had to leave it open until 11 to accommodate latecomers. Sometimes, we overlapped breakfast with lunch service. The stations remained open until 2:30 a.m. Because of Ramadan, some guests fasted during the day and ate early in the morning. We served international cuisine, a lot of chicken, fish and beef, not too much pork. The food bill was around P6 Million. So the total bill for Dusit Thani was close to P13 Million. The in-land transportation cost was about P3 Million.”

Teh said he slept three to four hours on the average during the tournament. “I was up early every day to open the food service at 6,” he said. “We also supervised the FIBA-Asia lounge, the hospitality room and the prayer room. There were no major problems we encountered. We took care of airport arrivals and departures like clockwork. I overheard FIBA president Mr. (Yvan) Mainini speaking with FIBA-Asia secretary-general Mr. Hagop (Khajirian) once and Mr. Mainini asked if there were any hitches in the hosting. Mr. Hagop told him 100 percent no complaints. Mr. Hagop should know because he’s the man everyone runs to when there are problems.”

Teh said the only incident that caused some alarm at Dusit Thani was when a Saudi Arabian team official reported losing his cellphone at the ballroom. “We turned the ballroom upside down looking for his phone only for the official to later inform us he had it in his pocket the whole time,” said Teh. “We monitored the movements of players and officials during off-playing hours. No issues at all.”

The Gilas team was also billeted at Dusit Thani. “Our guys were very disciplined,” said Teh. “No family visits, no going out. It was strictly business. Some of our players asked for galunggong, sinigang and tinolang manok which the Dusit chef happily provided. Personally, I became close with several team officials, particularly from Iran and Kazakhstan. They really appreciated our hospitality. I think the whole Local Organizing Committee did a wonderful job of hosting the championships. We wanted to be hospitable and efficient at the same time. Previous hosts were efficient but lacked the warmth of hospitality. We were very precise in managing the event and never lost our focus in being hospitable.”

Teh said aside from Dusit Thani, the SBP tapped three other hotels. “We provided single rooms for 26 referees at Manila Diamond, single rooms for the FIBA and FIBA-Asia working staff at the Manila Hotel and suites for the VIPs at the Sofitel,” he added. “The total bill for the three hotels amounted to about P6 Million.” The VIPs included Mainini, FIBA-Asia chairman Xin Lancheng of China, FIBA-Asia president Sheikh Saud Bin Ali Ali-Thani of Qatar, FIBA-Asia treasurer Quek Hiang Chiang of Singapore, Hagop and former FIBA-Asia president Dr. Carl Ching Men-Ky of Hong Kong.      

Two years ago, Teh said he personally witnessed MVP’s show of dedication to the country during the FIBA-Asia Championships in Wuhan. “FIBA-Asia unfairly questioned the eligibility of Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter,” related Teh. “It was before we played Jordan and MVP was in the lower box. Only Mr. Hagop could allow Chris and Marcio to play. So MVP got up from his seat, walked up the exits, then went down the stairs to the floor area to look for Mr. Hagop. There was no elevator, no escalator, and MVP had difficulty walking because of his knees which, I understand, became fragile from years of playing squash and badminton. Finally, he found Mr. Hagop who agreed to let the two play after MVP explained they had represented the country in FIBA-Asia previously. MVP had to walk up the stairs then down another stairway to get back to his seat. Chris and Marcio were allowed to play in the second quarter and we won. That’s MVP for you, hands-on, very dedicated. I was the only one who accompanied MVP to Mr. Hagop because I had an all-access pass so I saw for myself his determination to fight for our country. No bodyguards, no escorts. There was MVP, PLDT chairman, looking for Mr. Hagop alone to appeal for us. We’re lucky MVP is our leader.”