BATANGAS won’t be able to host the PBA Philippine Cup.
On Friday, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) gave the league the go signal to resume its games in provinces which are only under a regular General Community Quarantine (GCQ) or a modified GCQ.
Too bad, Batangas has just been placed under GCQ (General Community Quarantine) with heightened restrictions starting Friday.
The league was able to continue playing even after the National Capital Region was put under GCQ with heightened restrictions two weeks ago owing to a special permit it secured from the MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority).
Unfortunately, the permit doesn’t cover the local government unit of Batangas, thereby prohibiting the league from holding its games in the province.
The league initially eyed Batangas to hold the the game resumption under a semi-bubble setup since it also served as venue for teams to hold practices when 5-on-5 scrimmages were finally allowed by the IATF.
PBA in Pampanga
Now, the PBA hierarchy is considering other provinces to host its game, including Pampanga, which hosted the Philippine Cup last year under a full bubble setup.
Pampanga is currently under MGCQ.
But in the event the province is placed under a more restrictive quarantine, games will again have to be postponed.
"Should the community quarantine classification of their proposed new venue be escalated to a community quarantine classification higher than GCQ, the PBA should look for another venue that is under GCQ or MGCQ," said the IATF in memorandum to the league.