A group of sports vloggers is in hot water after they organized a basketball game in Guiguinto, Bulacan, allegedly a violation of the town’s quarantine rules.
Mav’s Phenomenal Basketball, which has almost 1.8 million followers on YouTube, posted a video on Feb. 12 entitled “We went to Guiguinto: Who is the new player?” The video was part of its “Dayo” (“travel” in English) series, where they journey to different towns to play with other teams.
What pissed off the town mayor, Ambrosio Cruz Jr., is the fact that contact sports like basketball remain prohibited in most parts of the country because such activities can easily spread the coronavirus. In the vlog, the men are even seen playing basketball without facemasks.
Read: PBA stars fined PHP20k for playing hoops in San Juan despite quarantine
“At first I was surprised how this had happened because our order is very strict, no contact sports, specifically basketball because we know how a lot of Filipinos are so into that, especially our youths. But it is clear, we will never allow basketball in Guiguinto,” Cruz told the news program State of the Nation.
The game was held at a private court in the village of Tabang, but the captain in the area was unaware of the event. Cruz intends to slap a PHP1,000 (US$20.62) fine on everyone who participated in the game.
“Now I’m asking who was involved in this. This should serve as a lesson, this shouldn’t happen again,” he said in English and Filipino.
“Why did they do this, when they know we are in a middle of a pandemic? They should be advised and they should be discouraged. I think they should be jailed for doing this one. They’re just having fun. Even we who are living quietly in our town are affected. At the end of the day, this will endanger the health of my people,” the mayor added.
Coconuts Manila has reached out to the sports vloggers but they have yet to respond as of posting.
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