Gilas Pilipinas Basketball Team is in limbo. Dangerous times up ahead for the RP Five. The exodus of the best cagers from the Philippine five casts a dark cloud to the resurgence of the nationals in the international arena. Missing from action are present pros Marc Pingris, Japeth Aguilar, Junmar Fajardo, LA Tenorio, Jeff Chan, Paul Lee, Greg Slaughter and Marcio Lasitter. Injuries, personal reasons and corporate politics are tagged as probable culprits to the mass exile that fuels intrigue and backlash in the social media.

PBA Legend Bogs Adornado rued the apparent absence of key players in the Gilas roster. “I’m sad and I wonder what’s happening now. I respect the players’ decisions, but I wonder why. Why, because during our time, we would fight and die to make the national team. Every player’s dream then was to wear the national colors.” Adornado stated as quoted in Philippine Star.

Talking about real injuries opposite pretentious disabilities, we remember the heroes who suffered in the call of duty. Achilles tear of Danny Seigle in 2002. Broken hand of Allan Caidic in 1990. Foot injury of Hector Calma in 1994. Busted knee of Marcus Douthit in 2013. Ankle injury of Jayson Castro in FIBA Worlds 2014. MCL of Kelly Williams in 2015. And many more heroes who bled for the country. They fought and endured for the Filipino nation. Their legacies cemented in the annals of Philippine hoops history. Legendary heroes as they say.

If players are nursing injuries and truly cannot heed national duty, then it is perfectly understandable. Let them recuperate. When pro stars beg-off to be with family members in need, we should emphatize, afterall family comes first. Let them rest for some time. It should not come as a surprise too when ballclubs want to protect the investments they placed on their cagers. Ultimately, money matters. Let them earn their share.

Cynical as it may sound, what if there is deliberate and willful intention to bar players from suiting-up for the national squad? Is there private coercion to force players not to play? In that case, then we may safely assume that if there is clear abandonment of national duty, someone should be made to answer. National interest needs vital protection.

It is hightime for Philippine Congress or the Senate to pass legislation requiring all local players to attend the national squad when called for. In this scenario, physicians from the DOH will ensure if a player is indeed injured and cannot play for the country. If proven that a cager pretends injury or willfully forego despite clean bill of health, then a ban or suspension from playing locally should be doled out. It is also fair for professional ballclubs or amateur teams to be compensated financially or be provided with a replacement import player in the event their star cager is injured while in the national team. Replacements may also come in draft considerations. Everything can be considered, but national responsibility should never be abandoned on the grounds of corporate rivalry or due to apparent personal apathy.

The mass leave of absence of players from Gilas also makes us revisit the FIBA rulebook that requires ballclubs to lend players to the national squad. FIBA makes mention of articles 3-78 and 3-96 that requires players to participate in the national team. We can only wonder if FIBA or SBP will invoke this to compel ballclubs or cagers to play.

One may also be intrigued on the possibility that the Gilas exodus is nothing short of a vendetta against coach Tab Baldwin. It was reported before that Baldwin had a brush-off with some PBA team owners due to his confrontational approach. Spin.Ph quoted one unnamed source who said,”He is only borrowing players from us. He shouldn’t demand. I thought from the very beginning that we will establish rapport when he decided to meet with us; I didn’t expect that he’ll end up arguing with us.” Spin.Ph further stated, “As a result, the team owner is intent on lending just one from a handful of players from his team that Baldwin wants, the team official added.” The source continued, “Hindi ibibigay lahat sa kanya.”

In the end, if Gilas 3.0 fails, the temperemental Kiwi mentor will surely be replaced. In this scenario, teams may no longer be reluctant to lease their precious players. Nevertheless, this is just a mere theory. Be that as it may, should the nation pay for a trifling personal dispute? Is Baldwin unreasonable to demand for players? Would Robert Jaworski get the same treatment if he is the one demanding? We can only deduce if a Rodrigo Duterte handles the national team, we’re sure there will be no emotional brats holding the country hostage due to trivial indifferences.

Rivalries strengthen basketball fervor. However, let’s make one thing clear. This is not SMC versus TNT, or DLSU opposite ADMU, and neither a classic Crispa against Toyota. No, this is a fight for the Filipino people by Filipinos. Everything else pales in comparison to national pride.

As quoted in Spin.Ph, the elder statesman in Gilas 3.0 Asi “The Rock” Taulava, sees motivation in the squad’s dilemma, “Let’s keep the focus on the journey we’re about to go in and not on the other bitter things. We should stop thinking about that. We should be happy that you got 14 guys who are healthy now. And its gonna be exciting now.” The question remains in the foreseeable future, what happens if not enough healthy players are available and still some ballclubs won’t release their stars? Will the nation fall prey again to corporate telenovela?

SBP President Manny V. Pangilinan twitted, “Sad day for Phil basketball. But thank you to the team which helped the national cause. Laban Pilipinas. Puso.” What a sad day for Philippine basketball indeed.

So what’s the obvious national clamor? Stop the bickering and the petty corporate politics. You can only imagine what will happen in the next few years to the national team. If we cannot get players to suit-up for Gilas due to dubious reasons, how much more when the FIBA schedule changes drastically in 2017? The FIBA calendar is set to run in conflict with the upcoming PBA seasons.

Have we not seen the fruits of disunity? Anyone remembers the infamous BAP days? The devil here is malignant apathy and indifference that leads to national divisiveness.

Alibis abound. Lies and media spin make one senile to the iniquities of some quarters to abandon the national squad. Our question is this. Is corporate rivalry or personal vendetta a higher priority than national duty? Admit it or not, it is evident that the success Gilas program brought with it not only reinvigorated the amateur and professional basketball scene, but also reignited the Pinoy passion to watch and enjoy local hoops once more. Players, managers and owners all owe it to the masses of Filipino basketball fans who bring them their fortune. May our plea fall not on deaf ears. We beg you to bring back our heroes, bring back our national pride.

Cicero immortalizes the present debacle of Filipino basketball when he once said, “Poor is the nation that has no HEROES, but poorer still is the nation that having heroes, fails to remember and honor them.” We can proudly say Filipinos honor their heroes. To this end we ask, where are our heroes then?