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 TOKUSHIMA—It’s
like selling a jacket in the Sahara.
But of
course, it’s long been proven that basketball can still
thrive even in a vertically challenged country like the
Philippines.
So after
yet another devastating loss for an RP team in
international competition, the next job of Patrick
Gregorio, secretary-general of the Samahang
Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), is to strengthen
diplomatic ties within the international basketball
community, to start building a winning program and to
maintain it, to constantly be on the good side of
corporate sponsors, and, above all, manage expectations
of 80 million people, whose hopes for basketball glory
are waning at an alarming rate.
 Putting
up a jacket enterprise in the desert is beginning to
sound more feasible.
“I’ve
heard comments from friends who say ‘we’ve always done
it this way [in basketball]’,” Gregorio, who wants to
clarify he is only “on leave” as chief marketing officer
of Microtel, says.
“But I’m
stubborn, I say it’s time we try it this way.”
Easier
said than done? It wouldn’t be on Gregorio’s lap if it
was easy in the first place.
Coming
from a tourism person, what should be the right approach
to become more familiar with the FIBA surroundings?
It’s our
role to take the lead in doing this. The players, the
coaches will strategize to win but the federation will
now try to win the hearts and compassion of people
outside the court. It’s about mutual respect. If we can
reach out and say we’re happy to be back in FIBA and
support its projects and promote its ideals, then that’s
a good start. Simply put, it is PR work. And that’s our
background, that’s been my life the past 20 years. PR
work equates to international relations.
Generally, we want to avoid corroding any further the
Philippines’ relationship with the FIBA. What kind of measures will the federation
take to help nurture that relationship?
We
anticipated this—you know, how to improve the relations.
The past few weeks I’ve processed that already and
definitely with the support of the whole federation,
we’ll put up strict guidelines and measures whenever we
send teams abroad whether men’s, juniors’ or women’s.
I’m not
hesitant to admit this is a good eye-opener. I had ideas
before we left, but I didn’t have the basis for them.
But after this experience, we know better. It didn’t
take us long enough to understand. Basically, what I
want to say is the role of the federation is to reach
out to the local stakeholders and the international
community that we are all one.
What are
your thoughts on the tournament (the FIBA-Asia
Championships)?
As far
as the game is concerned, we did not get the breaks. It
started with the draw, then we didn’t get the calls from
the referees. But one thing is for sure, it never
entered my mind that anybody cheated us. It would be
unfair to say that. Maybe it’s just not part of our
destiny to win this one.
We did
our best. We trained hard. We spent money with the
support of San Miguel, Mr. Pangilinan and PLDT. We just
didn’t get the breaks. But we’ve only just begun. The
best is yet to come, and this time, we will address the
issues and use the existing opportunities that are
available to make us more competitive.
Most of
the time, people describe your background [as a tourism
guy] as similar to your job as secretary-general. But
what are the differences, and how have you adjusted to
those differences?
Now,
everybody is looking at us. Because it’s a national
sport, it’s the passion of Filipinos, you will now have
critics and detractors. I don’t mind. It’s part of it.
Let me put it this way, in the next couple of months, as
secretary-general of the SBP with the support of Mr.
Pangilinan and the board of trustees, we will manage the
federation in a creative way, out of the box, following
the guidelines of FIBA. It’s implementing and
strengthening by putting in management expertise, and
for us to be successful we should not be afraid to fail
or to try new things.
I’ve
heard comments from friends who say “we’ve always done
it this way.” But I’m stubborn, I say it’s time we try
it this way. I’m not afraid to make mistakes because you
achieve a higher level of success. Kaysa ’yung tumaya
ka piso, nanalo ka piso. So that’s my mindset. As
I’ve said, we know what we need to do. The next question
is, will we do it? And why do we ask these questions?
Because we’re concerned of the repercussions. Everybody
is watching. It’s managing expectations. It’s assuring
everybody that everything will be okay, because there’s
no way to go but up.
Why
should corporations still believe in the Philippine
basketball?
Because
it’s a national sport, it’s a way of life. If I’m the
CEO of a corporation, or the chief marketing officer,
what is my objective? It is for you the consumer to be
close to my product, my brand to become a superbrand.
And how do we define superbrands? When you have choices
where to eat because you are hungry. Tumingin ka
around you, logo pa lang like McDonald’s or
Jolibee alam mo na du’n tayo pupunta. Or when you
say ’yung endearment, ’yung attachment.
Kodakan tayo? Or paki-Xerox nga ’to? These
are superbrands, ganu’n din ang basketball. When
you can watch it three or four times a week. You open
the TV, and you see a basketball game. As a brand, you
want to be part of your market’s way of life. The
challenge now is to become a superbrand, you have to be
seen as a winner. The biggest challenge lies in people
who will always be passionate when they feel victorious,
because you can’t be passionate kung palagi kang talo.
That
challenge is now the problem we have to solve.
Obviously the financial pie is this “big,” why do you
think there’s an imbalance?
Because
of the love of basketball, nothing else. I think the
older generations have made the sport popular as it is
now. We started when we were winning, so nandu’n na
’yung attachment. Then we had the first professional
league in
Asia . But it’s not enough. We have to sustain that, so we have
to start winning again.
Obviously, people were disappointed that the team fell
short. From where you sit, how painful was it?
It was
painful because I did not only fail, pero ’yung mga
taong umasa, we failed them. ’Yung initial reaction
na ang daming umasa, nanalangin, at nalungkot. ’Yun
ang masakit. Du’n mo mari-realize na parte talaga
ng buhay ng Pilipino, basketball. But I’d rather
push the pain up here [points to head], and analyze how
we can improve, how we can win. The desire to win
emanates from the heart, but it’s just desire. When you
fail, you start using your head. |
