Hurt Allauigan
October 09, 2023
After 61 years, Gilas Pilipinas has once again risen at the top of Asian basketball, at the expense of trailblazing Jordanians.
After the long overdue spell of underutilized talents, unfulfilled potential, and disappointing FIBA Basketball World Cup campaign, our national team can once again claim that we are indeed basketball powerhouses.
However, amidst the charm of a gold medal hanging around their necks, one stands out as a towering testament to Gilas' newfound dominance in Asia: the two consecutive humiliations of the Chinese National Team.
Dominating the Reds in the World Cup and narrowly escaping in the Asian Games semifinals (which they hosted), a case can now be made that this achievement of Gilas Pilipinas signifies not only an assertion of mastery but also a signal of unwavering political will.
Every time our Gilas boys face the Chinese team, they always ignite a sense of national pride and patriotism—it was never just a game of basketball after all.
It becomes a game against bullies, against a powerful nation that infringes our sovereignty over our territories and robs us of our resources, livelihood, and national identity.
Forget about the hypocritical senators wearing "atin ang West Philippine Sea" shirts; think about how we are now poking a giant nation without resorting to military action, without the diplomatic nonsense of treacherous and corrupt men in our government.
It is a blow to Chinese pride that they are no longer the bullies they claim to be, at least in basketball.
In a country that loves basketball as much as we do, we feel the pain where it matters; their defeat from Gilas squad has trended in Chinese social media and has become a national issue within the People's Republic.
Now, the Chinese public will speak of our names and they will finally know who Filipinos are, putting us in the map of their consciousness beyond the constraints of their censorship laws and propaganda.
It is only a matter of time for the people of China to learn what our country stands for, and perhaps someday, they would also learn about what their leaders were doing beyond their borders and the crimes they committed against their neighbors.
It may be just wishful thinking on our part, but through leaving an indelible mark on their history, Gilas Pilipinas may have achieved something more significant than the Arbitral Ruling ever did in protecting our islands from being taken over.
We will never forget how we thrashed them on our own soil by 15 points, and they will never fail to remember how they went from holding a 20-point lead to being defeated by just one point.
This win is our best chance to finally signal our political will and legitimate claim, just like how coach Tim Cone, Justin Brownlee, and the rest of Gilas Pilipinas fought on the hardcourt—to never concede what was rightfully ours.
Atin ang gintong medalya, sa amin din ang West Philippine Sea.
西菲律宾海 是我们的 (Xī fēilǜbīn hǎi shì wǒmen de)
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