Davao will be representing the Philippines in the elite ASEAN Basketball League which is set to reboot after two years of the pandemic.
Davao Pilipinas, will have the core of the Davao Occidental Tigers of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), in the regional tournament featuring the best of the ASEAN region.
In a recent interview with sports portal Spin.ph, team manager Ray Alao bared the development as he has been entrusted to hoist the Philippine flag and continue the nation’s winning tradition in the league.
“We’re excited for this new challenge. This will be the biggest opportunity for us and we, together with Davao Occidental Gov. Claude Bautista and DUMPER-PTDA Rep. Claudine Diana Bautista, are working hard to put up a strong team this coming ABL season,” he said.
This will be a return of sorts for Jerwin Gaco, who won a championship for the Philippine Patriots in the 2010 ABL season.
Paolo Hubalde and Robby Celiz, both of whom have played for Alab Pilipinas, are also making a comeback to the regional league.
John Wilson leads the pack for the Davao squad as he will be joined by veteran ex-pros Billy Ray Robles, Bonbon Custodio, and Keith Agovida.
Completing the team are Joseph Terso, Emman Calo, Jason Grimaldo, Gab Dagangon, Allan Santos, Chris Lalata, Marco Balagtas, Irvin Palencia, and Joe Presbitero.
Alao also hinted at the possibility of enlisting stars such as recently retired Marc Pingris as the team has gotten the full support of San Miguel Corporation.
Arvin Bonleon will serve as the head coach and will have Manu Iñigo and Matt Makalintal as his deputies.
This team will be an evolution of the Davao Occidental Tigers which won the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Lakan Cup and made it to the semifinals of the Filbasket Subic Championship.
Davao understands the weight it bears representing the country in a tournament like this, but Alao said that his crew are intent on making the country proud with this campaign.
“We know the rich history the Philippine teams have in the ABL and we want to put ourselves in that standard as well, so we want to make a splash and win a championship in this tournament,” he said.
The ABL has yet to release the full details of the upcoming season, although it has previously mentioned holding “circuit format” tournaments to cope with the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Cities in Indonesia and Malaysia are looked at as potential venues for this first bubble, which is tentatively set for this February.
Philippine-based clubs have won three championships in the regional league, with the aforementioned Philippine Patriots ruling the inaugural 2009-10 season, before the San Miguel Beermen (2013) and San Miguel Alab Pilipinas (2017-18) followed suit.
