THE Escandor Group of Companies in collaboration with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) Davao and the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) will host the first-ever President's Cup collegiate basketball tournament this December.
In an interview with SBP Davao executive program director Ronel Leuterio, the President's Cup is an initiative of Escandor Group of Companies president and SBP Davao Regional Director Glenn Escandor to honor President Rodrigo Duterte.
The President's Cup will have three legs namely, the PCCL Mindanao Finals slated December 1-3, PCCL Zonal Championships set on December 4-5, and the Philippine Regional Championships on December 6-8.
The champion in the men's collegiate division of the ongoing Gaisano Grand Cup 2018 will represent Davao Region up against teams from Cagayan de Oro City, Zamboanga City and the defending champion General Santos City in the Mindanao Finals that will be played at either the Davao City Recreation Center or the Rizal Memorial Colleges (RMC) Event Center.
Whoever wins the Mindanao Finals will banner Mindanao in the Zonal Championships against the Visayas Finals champion and the champion of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) at the Arcadia Active Lifestyle Center.
The Zonal Championships winners, meanwhile, will collide with the National Capital Region (NCR)-Luzon in the best-of-three Philippine Regional Championships that will also be hosted at the Arcadia Active Lifestyle Center.
Joe Lipa, founder of PCCL and the President's Cup head organizing committee, through a text message to Leuterio, announced that the Philippine Regional Championships winner will play against either a team from the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) or from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which will also have its own elimination round.
The clash will be held in Manila in January 2019.