Ginebra’s Tenorio leads ‘bayanihan spirit’ in PBA

JONAS TERRADO

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s LA Tenorio is pleased that fellow captains from other teams were able to come on board and find ways to resume the PBA Philippine Cup as early as Sept. 1 in Bacolor, Pampanga.

Tenorio led an initiative that saw the players commit to chip-in to some of the expenses in order for the league to restart the conference despite the spike in COVID-19 cases due to the more-infectious Delta variant.

“Siyempre habang naka-stop kami, we have to do something about it. We cannot wait for this to be finished. Hindi natin pwedeng hintayin e,” Tenorio said in an interview with the program The Game.

“So andami kong naisip, nag-isip ako kung anong pwedeng paraan and I took the initiative to contact all my friends from the other teams, mga beteranong teammates ko before from Gilas like Gabe (Norwood), Beau (Belga), Paul (Lee) and Kiefer (Ravena).

“And I started talking to all the teams eventually, all the team captains and representatives. Shinare ko lang yung mga naisip ko for us to get going and I’m so thankful to all the players, the team captains and the veterans na kasama roon sa group na constantly kami nag-uusap for the past 2-3 weeks for us to start again.”

Last season’s Finals Most Valuable Player of the Philippine Cup added that now is the perfect time for the PBA to resume since it will put the league back on the spotlight following weeks that saw the staging of the Olympics and the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference, the only two sporting events available on television screens.

“It doesn’t matter who’ll shoulder the expenses, but for us players the most important thing is now is the perfect time na makapaglaro kami,” he said.

“Tapos na NBA, tapos na Olympics, tapos na yung volleyball, siguro it’s time naman na kami mapanood ng tao. Medyo nakakalimutan na rin kami e, kahit ako everyday volleyball na pinapanood ko. With the cooperation of all the team members and the representatives, nabuo namin to. And ito na. Hopefully makapag-start na kami soon.”

The PBA is poised to begin next week inside the campus of Don Honorio Ventura State University, pending a formal approval from school officials.

If the Sept. 1 is timetable is met, the PBA will have five playdates per week in a bid to finish the eliminations in the middle of the month.