We are one

The "Basketball Balik-Tanaw" summit organized by Dr. Michael Rico Mesina attracted pillars from many facets of Philippine basketball and culture. The intimate gathering emphasized the value of the sports in defining who we are as a people, even for those who are not hardcore fans or don't play the sport.

- By BILL VELASCO

"I think Filipinos love basketball out of a sense of belonging," said Mesina, an authority on basketball history and memorabilia. "We also love the creativity of team sports."

The morning began with Doc Rico bringing in John Silva, executive director of the Ortigas Foundation Library, where the event was held. He was followed by Melvin Lam, president of the Bayanihan Collectors Club. The meeting room was filled and surrounded with incomparable mementos and merchandise from more than 125 years of basketball in the Philippines, from the time when women were the first ones to play it, to the international flavor of today. We felt like kids in a candy store.