Senate grants Boatwright Filipino citizenship

GILAS PILIPINAS’ bid to deploy Bennie Boatwright soon, hopefully for its title defense in the upcoming Asian Games (Asiad) in Japan, received a major boost with the Senate granting the American-born sharpshooter citizenship.

Voting 13-0 in a special session on Wednesday, senators approved on third and final reading House Bill (HB) No. 6639 that made Mr. Boatwright a Filipino as well as HB 6644 for Fil-Am wrestler Matthew Ramos. Both bills had been previously approved by the House of Representatives.

This ended weeks of delays brought about by the leadership impasse in the upper chamber, opening the doors for Mr. Boatwright’s potential Gilas debut soon.

From here, the legislation will be transmitted to the Office of the President for signing. If the chief executive fails to act, the bills will lapse into law after 30 days.

The hope is for the 6-foot-9 Mr. Boatwright’s documentations to be finalized in time for the Nationals’ campaign in the Asiad, set for Sept. 19 to Oct. 4.

Per initial reports, the continental meet’s organizing committee is implementing a passport-only requirement for participants, unlike in FIBA-sanctioned meets that limit countries to only one naturalized player.

As such, Gilas intends to take full advantage with an exciting collaboration between current naturalized Filipino Justin Brownlee and Mr. Boatwright. — Olmin Leyba