By REYNALD MAGALLON
Ever since Justin Brownlee was embraced by the Filipino fans as one of their own, the Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player has been searching for ways to give back to the country.
And he found an ally in that goal, along with his fellow PBA stars Jayson Castro and Scottie Thompson, in the 1Pacman Partylist which also played a huge role in processing his naturalization in the congress.
“I actually want to give back to basketball. Hopefully I can do some things with younger kids and try to help the development of basketball here in the Philippines,” said the 36-year-old forward who is looking to help in advocacy in sports and youth development
Brownlee became officially a Filipino citizen back in January 2023, all thanks to the initiative of outgoing 1Pacman representative Mikee Romero who filed the bill granting the Gilas wingman citizenship at the House of Representatives.
“I definitely appreciate that. I understand it wasn’t an easy process but I just appreciate all the senators and politicians who were involved. I can name so many but I’m just gonna say everyone that was involved, I just appreciate them,” said Brownlee.
The Gilas forward played pivotal role in the Nationals’ golden conquest in the Asian Games as well as historic wins against Latvia in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament and New Zealand in the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
Interestingly, Brownlee now stands by side with Mikee’s daughter, Milka in continuing the 1Pacman’s goal of helping elevate the grassroots especially in the less privileged areas in the country.
“Anything positive for the country,” said Brownlee.
“I’m a Filipino citizen now so I take pride in things like that. Like I said, I wanna be a big part of it or even a small part of it and help as much as I can,” he added.
