The country’s foremost patron of basketball has doffed his hat to Gilas Pilipinas once again as they advance to the quarterfinals, after a sluggish 0-2 start in the ongoing FIBA Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Coming from back-to-back losses to Chinese Taipei and New Zealand in the elimination round, Gilas defeated Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
On heroics of Justin Brownlee, Gilas turned the tide against the Saudis last night in a 95-88 overtime win.
Manny V. Panglinan praised the Philippines squad as they beat the host squad to advance to the quarterfinals.
“It’s a tribute to the Gilas team for playing a very heroic basketball against Iraq and against Saudi Arabia,” Pangilinan said.
He cited the coaching staff led by Coach Tim Cone and managers Alfrancis Chua and Al Panlilio, president of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas “given the short preparation time” for the regional event.
He made the remarks to the question raised by this writer during the press conference of PLDT First Half (1H) of 2025 Disclosure Report.
The benefactor of Philippine basketball and other sports also cited the turnout of Filipinos at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, KSA as Gilas won in 95-88 overtime win against the Saudis.
“It’s also a tribute and a great source of pride for us that the majority of the audience are Filipinos,” he said.
“One would like to think that about 99% of them (2 million Filipinos in Saudi) were present in the stadium,” he added.
In a separate message, Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio noted of Gilas Pilipinas’ come-from-behind win.
“It ain’t over til it’s over. Gilas down by 6 last 1:22; Gilas down by 3 last 8.4 seconds. Brownlee for 3.
Kaya happy ang Pinoy sa basketball. Talo na panalo pa. Ganyan din ang laban ng buhay. Mabuhay ang Gilas Pilipinas,” Gregorio said in his text to this writer.
The same brand of never-say-die attitude is expected to be displayed by Gilas as they face a tougher Australia in the quarterfinals.
“We wish them well, as they make us all proud,” Panglinan added.
In the 1H briefing, PLDT Inc. reported a 3% rise (₱2.9 billion) in Gross Service Revenues to ₱106.3 billion, while Consolidated Service Revenues (net of interconnect costs) held steady at ₱97.1 billion in the first six months of 2025.
