The League of Municipalities (LMP) Bohol Chapter took a leaf out of the NBA’s book as it proposed to create “barangay basketball bubbles” in a bid to allow residents to play the country’s most beloved sport even amid quarantine restrictions.
LMP Bohol vice president Mayor Dave Duallo of Buenavista, in a virtual Capitol press briefing on Friday, said the “basketball bubbles” would allow residents to play the sport but only in their village’s courts.
“Sa usa ka barangay naa silay basketball court. Ang pwede mo duwa, kana ra pung mga gapuyo anang mga barangaya,” Duallo said.
The LMP conveyed the proposal through a resolution which was submitted for approval to the Bohol Inter-Agency Task Force led by Governor Arthur Yap.
Duallo said the measure would cover both basketball and volleyball.
However, playing of both games will only be allowed in barangays which have zero active local transmission cases of COVID-19.
Organizing leagues or tournaments will also be prohibited.
As stated in the LMP resolution, mayors across the province have been receiving “continuous appeals” to allow the playing of basketball and volleyball as means of recreation and exercise for residents, particularly the youth.
“Bubble” has been a commonly used term during the pandemic which pertains to a supposed safe haven for specific activities.
The NBA was among the first to popularly adopt the term as it created the 2020 NBA Bubble, also referred to as the Disney Bubble or Orlando Bubble, an isolation zone at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, where teams played and lived for the remainder of the year’s season.
Earlier, Provincial Administrator Kathyrin Pioquinto made it clear that playing of contact sports such as basketball remained prohibited even as the province has been placed under modified general community quarantine, the least restrictive quarantine level.
Based on Yap’s Executive Order No. 52, only indoor and outdoor non-contact sports and other exercises and physical routines such as walking, jogging, running, biking, golf, swimming, tennis, badminton, and similar activities are allowed.
Pioquinto however did not dismiss the possibility of the restriction being lifted particularly if safety provisions are crafted.