24 cagers start basketball marathon today

MANILA, Philippines - A lady PE teacher, a dentist, an engineer, a recording artist and couples of college students are in the curious mix of 24 ballers making an effort together for a noble cause in the Philippine Basketball Marathon that kicks off at 7 a.m. today at the Meralco Gym.

Maricar Convencido, a 29-year PE teacher and cage coach; Larry Macapanpan, a 43-year-old dentist; Owen Mabaga, a 29-year-old engineer; and Carlo Ferdinand Vasquez, a 28-year-old recording artist, are among those banding together in an attempt to break the world record and provide some relief to Filipinos still suffering from the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda.

Americans Chuck Williams, Jeffrey Moore and Tony Tatar, all part of the current basketball marathon record holders, are also in the roster together with website developer Robbie Dell Macatbag, event coordinator Santos Tominio, OIC operator Evan Lazana and freelancers Justo Quita Jr. and Hazel Foja.

Students John Ray Mappala, Sandy Cenal, Abraham Compuesto III, Luis Jay Bolante, Harold Lomtong, Kerr Bangeles, Helino Francisco Jr., Robert Clark Bear, Paul Michael Dela Pena, Adin Rome Santos, Renell Montecillo and Jopet Quiro complete the cast that attempts to break the world record of 112 hours, 13 seconds the Missouri Athletic Club set in St. Louis, Missouri on March 21-25, 2012.

Pasig City Mayor Bobby Eusebio and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Renauld “Sonny” Barrios are among those invited to grace the kick-off of the event organized by Asian Cable Enterprises, Inc. (ACCESS) in cooperation with Gawad Kalinga Philippines.

The Philippine Basketball Marathon is under project “Bounce Back Phl” which aims to raise funds to be donated to Gawad Kalinga’s “Operation Walang Iwanan” with its mission to build a basketball marathon village in an area in Negros Occidental that was devastated by Yolanda (internationally known as Typhoon Haiyan).

The BM Village will be composed of 24 houses, a basketball court and a community hall where the recipients can engage in different Gawad Kalinga livelihood programs.

The 24 players all passed medical tests.

Williams is the oldest at 48 while Lazana, Macapanpan, Tatar and Moore are the others in their 40s. Compuesto, a University of Makati student, is the youngest at 19.

Ruby requests the nation to support and pray for the safety of the 24 players and the technical people involved in the event.

Williams, Moore and Tatar enjoin those who have more in life to help in this endeavor.

Donations can be made on different packages ranging from $12-$500. For information, visit www.bouncebackph.com or basketballmarathon.com.