Senate unanimously approves on third and final reading the bill granting Filipino citizenship to Justin Brownlee. The bill was also approved in the House of Representatives last month.
The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading the bill seeking to grant Filipino citizenship to American-born basketball player Justin Brownlee.
Voting 21-0, the lawmakers in the upper chamber adopted House Bill No. 6224, which would grant the resident Barangay Ginebra import the opportunity to suit up for Gilas Pilipinas, the men’s national basketball team.
The same bill was also approved in the House of Representatives last month.Since first arriving in the country in 2016, the 34-year-old Brownlee has been Ginebra’s reinforcement in the PBA. He helped the crowd-darling ballclub win five championships and was named Best Import of the Conference twice.
The bill will now be transmitted to the Office of the President for signing into law.
Brownlee is expected to give Gilas a boost in the frontcourt when the national squad competes in the February window of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers. The Philippines, which currently owns a 5-3 win-loss record in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers, will host Lebanon and Jordan in that window.
Justin Brownlee flirted with a triple-double anew and powered that big third-quarter run which swung a 70-70 tie to an 89-74 lead as the Gin Kings moved on the cusp of a fourth straight semifinal stint in the mid-season tournament.
Brownlee churned out 39 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 blocks, scattering 11 points in the 19-4 spurt that turned things around for Ginebra and gave the Gin Kings a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three duel.
The victory marked the fourth consecutive game Brownlee finished with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists as he continues to make a strong case for his third Best Import honors.
Stanley Pringle backstopped Brownlee in scoring with 16 points to go with 3 assists, Jamie Malonzo put up 13 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals, while Scottie Thompson chalked up 11 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals.
Conserved by Ginebra head coach Tim Cone for the playoffs, LA Tenorio showed up and fired 12 points as he surpassed PBA icon Ronnie Magsanoc for the No. 4 spot in the all-time three-pointers list.
Tenorio knocked down 4 triples on 6 attempts to raise his tally to 1,174 and leapfrog Magsanoc, who ended his decorated career with 1,171 treys.
His fourth and last three-pointer came with under a minute left, 116-102, dashing all hopes of the Batang Pier after NorthPort threatened a comeback.
Christian Standhardinger made his presence felt in the win with 5 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Former Gin Kings forward Arvin Tolentino torched his former team with 29 points and 8 rebounds only to witness the Batang Pier fall apart.
Robert Bolick posted 21 points and 6 assists, while Prince Ibeh totaled 18 points, 15 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 blocks as NorthPort of another quarterfinals exit.
The sixth seed Batang Pier have reached the playoffs nine times over the last six seasons but made the semifinals just once.
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