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ANGE Kouame’s bid for Philippine citizenship is just the first step in Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) plan to have a group of players naturalized for Gilas Pilipinas.
“Ultimately, we’d like to have a group of players who are more ‘field horses’. That term means if it’s a muddier racetrack, you’ll want a horse that runs better in mud rather than a tough one.” explained SBP program director Tab Baldwin in Coaches Unfiltered.
On Wednesday, the House Justice Committee already unanimously approved in first reading House Bill No. 5951 written by SBP Vice President and Antipolo First District Representative Robbie Puno, which seeks to obtain the Philippine citizenship of central Ivory Coast.
You still need to gain congressional and Senate approval through Senate Bill No. 1892 introduced by SBP Chairman Sen. Sonny Angara and the most important signature of President Duterte, to become a full-fledged Filipino. .
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The SBP hopes to accelerate that process so that Kouame can prepare for Gilas Pilipinas in the third window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in February.
But the federation does not stop there, as it hopes to have more naturalized players at its disposal for future international competitions.
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The naturalization offer of 32-year-old Geneva resident importer Justin Brownlee remains pending in the House of Representatives, nearly two years since 1-Pacman Representatives Mikee Romero and Eric Pineda introduced House Bill No. 8106 at the 17th Congress.
SBP has also had talks with former San Miguel reinforcement Chris McCullough, but that has yet to gain ground.
Also part of that naturalized group are Christian Standhardinger, Stanley Pringle and Mo Tautuaa, players with Filipino lineage, but who cannot play at home in tournaments sanctioned by Fiba for not securing Filipino passports before their 16th birthday.
That only opens windows of opportunity for the Philippines, Baldwin said.
“If we have an extended pool of naturalized players, whether that means the current pool given their availability or more players coming in, we identify who wants this and who Congress can see is appropriate to allow them to grant Filipino citizenship, obviously that’s good for the show, “Baldwin said.
“And we are working to identify the guys who could run,” he added.
That, however, is looking at the big picture.
For now, SBP’s focus is to prepare Kouame’s roles in time for the next series of games, where the Philippines will face Korea and Indonesia.
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The SBP is also instilling the Ateneo coup more into Filipino culture.
“At the end of the day, our focus is on Ange and helping him get through the process, and letting Congress see these guys make a real contribution to Philippine society,” said the American-Kiwi mentor.
“It is important to me that we not only see these guys as basketball players, but we see them as ambassadors for the country, wearing a basketball uniform and moving within our community and other communities around the world as Filipinos.”
