PBA action could resume soon in the province of Pampanga. — PBA IMAGES

FORCED early this month to halt action because of rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)  is inching closer to returning after securing the go signal to resume its tournament in Pampanga.

The league announced this week that it was given the approval by Pampanga Governor Dennis G. Pineda to start team practices in their area which could pave the way for the eventual resumption of the Philippine Cup in the first week of September.

The 12 PBA teams were to start practicing in three different venues around Pampanga — namely San Fernando, Angeles and Mexico — beginning on Tuesday, with the Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) in Bacolor eyed as the venue of the official games.

League Commissioner Willie O. Marcial said they are just waiting for the confirmation from officials of DHVSU to use their facilities and after that, coupled with the smooth flow of the team practices, they could proceed with the resumption of play.

PBA officials said their health protocols were already approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and the provincial government of Pampanga and that they are now looking forward to getting the ball rolling anew.

Part of the protocols approved is the antigen testing of all the teams in the morning of each play date, which would mean five antigen tests per week since the PBA is shifting to five play dates — Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays — once it returns to action.

Mondays are for RT-PCR tests, with the results expected to come out the next day.

Player and team movements will be under a closed-circuit setup, limited to hotel-game venue-hotel.

The PBA Philippine Cup opened on July 16 with games held at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City also under a closed-circuit setup.

Proceedings were halted after matches on Aug. 1 just as Metro Manila was placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine because of rising COVID-19 cases, particularly the Delta variant.

The league spent the next weeks looking for areas which could hold its games, eventually finding a willing host in Pampanga, which is under a less strict setup of Modified General Community Quarantine.

At the time of the stoppage, the Magnolia Hotshot Pambansang Manok on top of the standings with a 4-0 record, followed by the TNT Tropang Giga (3-0), Meralco Bolts (4-1), San Miguel Beermen (3-1), Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (4-2), NLEX Road Warriors (2-2), Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings (2-2), Alaska Aces (2-3), Northport Batang Pier (1-3), Phoenix Fuel Masters (1-4), Terrafirma Dyip (0-4) and Blackwater Elite (0-4). — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

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