THE teams of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) are helping each other out in an effort to slowly get back onto the court, proving that the Filipino “bayanihan spirit” is alive and well during these trying times.

One fine example is that of San Miguel Corp.’s (SMC) willingness to assist the other teams in the league in carrying out Covid-19 tests for their players, coaches and staff.

Part of the protocols that were submitted by the PBA to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for approval for the return of the teams to on-court training was the testing of all the players every month.

The PBA board, which met last Wednesday, approved of this measure and barred any player from participating in any training activity if he has not gotten tested.

The PBA board, in a first face-toface meeting Wednesday, approved a no-testing, no-training policy as part of the league’s effort to hopefully resume the Covid-interrupted season by October.

All the players of the three teams under SMC, namely San Miguel Beer, Barangay Ginebra and Magnolia, have had their initial tests, with no one testing positive.

Talk N Text players and coaches went through their own testing on Thursday while the other teams under the MVP group — NLeX and Meralco — were also scheduled to undergo their own tests.

PBA chairman Ricky Vargas shared that San Miguel was more than ready to extend assistance in this regard, as they already have equipment for this.

“For the other teams, San Miguel expressed readiness to extend help as they have machines and test kits,” said Vargas.

SMC chief Ramon S. Ang also helped the PBA staff go through testing last weekend. During the forementioned PBA meeting, the governors expressed their gratitude to Ang for his efforts to look after the PBA family and other sectors of society in this country that has been brought to its knees by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Nakita kung ano’ng ginawang kabutihan ni Mr. Ramon Ang ng SMC group, kaya karapat-dapat na kami sa board ay magpasalamat sa kanya. A resolution was unanimously approved for giving special recognition to Mr. Ramon Ang for looking after the health and safety of the PBA family—the employees and staff and everybody else in the PBA,” said Columbian Dyip team governor Bobby Rosales. / JNP