See you soon: Jimmy Alapag clarifies that moving to the US is not permanent

Jimmy Alapag said the decision to move to the United States with his family is not permanent.

“We want to make it very clear that we are not leaving forever,” Alapag said in a vlog posted on Saturday, the first since the family left the country Tuesday night.

Alapag made it clear after seeing articles that said he, his wife LJ Moreno, and their children Ian Maximus, Keona and Calen will stay in the United States forever.

“I was a little disappointed in some of the articles because I have not spoken to anyone who has said that Jimmy Alapag and LJ Moreno are gone forever because that is not the case,” added Alapag, whom Moreno joined in the vlog.

Alapag also ended a long Instagram post saying that he “never says goodbye, we just see you soon”

But the Gilas Pilipinas legend also said that it took a lot of soul searching before the family decided to start a new chapter.

“It was a decision that LJ and I didn’t rush and just ‘Ok, let’s go,’” he said. “It was something we talked about often. It was something we talked about often. It was something we prayed for even more.

“All the posters aimed to come here, to be closer to the family, and at the same time, I know for myself with work, to keep trying to learn here as a coach,” added Alapag.

Alapag said before he left that he is considering potential NBA or G-League coaching opportunities as one of the reasons for the possible move from the United States.

The 2011 PBA Most Valuable Player also said that the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, along with the opportunity to be closer to his family, also greatly influenced his decision.

“With so many of us affected by this pandemic, I know that it forced us as a family to change course in terms of our plans as a family,” Alapag said.

“Going through everything in the last few months, LJ and I talked about what the next step would be for our family, what will happen when it comes to the basketball landscape in Manila.

“Again with this pandemic, my dad just turned 82 last June, it was important for both of us to be closer to family, so we made the decision to move back to the United States in the meantime,” he added.