Batangas out as PBA venue in planned resumption under heightened quarantine

MANILA, Philippines – The PBA has gained clearance from the Inter-Agency Task Force to continue the shelved 46th Philippine Cup but only in areas under ordinary General Community Quarantine (GCQ) or Modified GCQ (MGCQ), leaving Batangas as its previous option out of the equation.

Batangas, which was then under simple GCQ for the rest of the month, has just been upgraded to GCQ with heightened restrictions starting yesterday until August 15.

“The IATF has told us that games could only be allowed in GCQ and MGCQ arenas,” Commissioner Willie Marcial told The STAR, now eyeing Pampanga as among the possible venues depending on the local government unit’s permission.

Compared to Batangas, Pampanga is currently under MGCQ but with additional restrictions within the province as mandated by governor Dennis Pineda.

Lipa City in Batangas was initially considered by the PBA as its temporary venue outside the metropolis after housing the scrimmage practices of several squads since May.

But Pampanga is also not new to being the PBA’s home either, albeit this time under a closed-circuit set-up, after a successful staging of the 2020 Season under a full bubble setting in Clark.

However, the IATF added in its resolution to PBA’s request that the situation would be fluid as the league has to transfer to GCQ or MGCQ areas anew should its chosen venue be upgraded to stricter quarantine status.

"Should the community quarantine classification of their proposed new venue be escalated to a community quarantine classification higher than GCQ, the PBA should look for another venue that is under GCQ or MGCQ,” the IATF said.

The PBA just opened shop last month at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City under a semi-bubble transition setting before halting play last Wednesday due to the ECQ that will run until August 20.

Indoor sports venues around the National Capital Region will not be allowed to operate during the said period.