MANILA, Philippines – It has been 53 long years since the Philippines last played basketball at the Olympic level, not since the 1972 Games in Munich, Germany.

Since then, the country has gone through its share of ups and downs at the local and international hoops scene, with multiple legendary coaches and players all trying to rescale the Olympic peak of Filipino basketball and ultimately failing in their earnest quests.

Hope, however, is not yet lost in the sands of time, says one of the last surviving members of that same 1972 team: former Senator Freddie Webb.

The keynote speaker for the all-time Philippine Olympic delegation honored at the annual Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Awards Night, the 82-year-old legend beamed with pride when asked about his thoughts of the current iteration of the national team, the modern-day Gilas Pilipinas.

“I think that this is the most well-organized team we have. Well organized. It heightens your interest in basketball,” Webb said last Monday, January 27, at the Manila Hotel, where Olympians from as far back as 1968 gathered to bask in their glory anew alongside today’s generation of icons like Carlos Yulo.

“Our opponents are really stronger than us, but what makes us win is our desire to bring back to our countrymen that basketball is the No. 1 sport, and that it will remain that way forever,” Webb continued. “That’s what our current team has shown.”

Though lofty in nature, Webb’s statement was no mere lip service for the current flag-bearing hoopers, as Gilas has indeed rewritten history since the turn of the 2020s.

History aplenty

Coming off a rock-bottom moment in the 2022 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games where the Philippines failed to secure its 14th straight men’s basketball gold medal, the program underwent a major systemic revamp under new head coach Tim Cone and easily reclaimed gold in the 2023 edition.

Proving its newfound winning stretch was no fluke, the Justin Brownlee-led Gilas stunned the continent by winning its first Asian Games gold medal since 1962, ending a six-decade drought that predated the Philippines’ last Olympic appearance by a whole 10 years.

Gilas did not stop there, as it somehow outdid itself one more time last July by beating then-world No. 6 Latvia in the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, marking the Philippines’ first win over a European team since 1960 — a 64-year stretch this time around.

With the national team’s current iteration locked in a structured four-year program until at least the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Webb is adamant that no drastic changes should be made, and that all involved parties should continue to work closely while positive results are still rolling in.

“I don’t have to go back to history. The important thing is we are having a good team now, simply because there is a partnership between Mr. [Manny] Pangilinan and RSA (Ramon S. Ang),” Webb continued.

“This has to continue forever. One cannot live without the other, because for me, when these two groups are available, then all the players are available. They should be made available.” – Rappler.com

Got comments, questions, or insights about this story? Head to the sports chat room of the Rappler Communities app, available for iOS, Android, or web. Access our chat rooms by tapping the Community tab on the app. See you there!