PHILIPPINE Basketball Association (PBA) stars Ian Sangalang and Arwind Santos are publicly campaigning for the reelection of Governor Dennis Pineda.
Sangalang and Santos have been accompanying Pineda during his sorties and motorcades in different towns in the province.
They have been endorsing the governor to the people as a mentor and leader that the province needs.
“This is a way of thanking him for his support in my sports career. I believe he can help more young people not just in sports but also in other career pursuits,” Sangalang said in an interview.
He added that the governor’s government programs and his personal support for sports in Pampanga have cultivated the area that is often neglected by most politicians.
It was Pineda who discovered Sangalang and Santos before they were recruited to play in Manila. Pineda, aside from his career in politics, is a sports enthusiast that hosted local league competitions in Pampanga for several years now.
As seen in several sorties of the governor, PBA star Santos urged fans to support Pineda which he considers as one of his mentors in sports.
Both players lauded Pineda’s support for basketball that has catapulted the careers of some of the players he discovered into the national league.
Pineda’s passion and support for basketball led Converge team owner Dennis Anthony Uy to tap the former as consultant for its PBA team. Pineda is also the team owner and head coach of the Pampanga Delta, the two-time champion of the NBL-Pilipinas.
Uy expressed appreciation to Pineda for his continuing support to Philippine basketball, particularly in the PBA where he discovered many players from amateur ranks onwards to stardom, including Arwind Santos, Calvin Abueva and Ian Sanggalang, among others.
Meantime, PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial lauded Governor Pineda for his invaluable contribution in the 2021 bubble tournaments which was held in the province.