NO LESS than Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner Willie Marcial lauded Pampanga Governor Dennis Pineda for his invaluable contribution in the 2021 bubble tournaments held in the province.

Pineda assisted the two successful PBA bubble tournaments.

The first one was held in Clark Freeport and Angeles City on November 3 to December 9, 2021. The success of the bubble was also partly due to the support of the Bases Conversion Development Authority and Clark Development Corporation.

“Si Governor Pineda ang laking tulong sa amin sa PBA. Noong first bubble naming, siya ang tumulong, siya rin ang nag facilitate kung paano ang set-up namin. Kung sino pupuntahan kapag may nag positive. Noong second bubble, siya tumulong para makakuha ng court at hotel. Sa amin at sa akin, ang laking tulong ni Gov. Pineda,” Marcial told reporters.

The second bubble was held at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor.

Pineda’s passion and support for basketball had led Converge team owner Dennis Anthony Uy to tap Pineda as consultant for its PBA team. Pineda is also the team owner and head coach of the Pampanga Delta, the two-time champions of the NBL-Pilipinas.

Uy expressed appreciation to Pineda for his continuing support to Philippine basketball, particularly in the PBA where the latter has discovered many players from amateur ranks onwards to stardom, including Arwind Santos, Calvin Abueva and Ian Sanggalang, among others.