MANILA – Regardless of the outcome of his political venture in the 2022 elections, Negrense guard James Yap will still be playing for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the PBA.
The Escalante City, Negros Occidental native said he is not yet thinking of retiring after recently filing his certificate of candidacy for a seat in the council of San Juan City’s first district.
“Nagpaalam ako sa PBA kung puwede ako tumakbo, sa management ng Rain or Shine. Sinabi naman nila, puwede,” Yap said. “Ano raw plano ko, kung magre-retire na ba ako?”
“Ang sabi ko naman, pwede bang kung papalarin ako, habang councilor ako sa San Juan, pwede ba akong maglaro sa PBA? Ang sabi naman nila pwede raw so siguro one more year,” the 39-year-old cager added.
Yap is running under the ticket of incumbent San Juan City mayor Francis Zamore, who himself was a former basketball cager with the De La Salle University Green Archers in the UAAP.
Aside from Yap, there were also other former PBA players in Zamora’s lineup – Paul Artadi and Don Allado, and former PBA Developmental League and MPBL player Ervin Vijandre.
“Gusto kong makapagbigay ng inspirasyon sa mga bata, especially sa mga gustong maging athlete. Dahil sa karanasan ko bilang isang atleta, sa tagal ko sa PBA, baka makapag-share ako sa kanila,” said Yap.
He added: “Kasi kailangan din talaga ng guidance ng mga kabataan. Sa experience ko kasi, kung walang nag-guide sa akin, baka hindi ko marating kung nasaan ako ngayon,” the Negrense cager added.
According to PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, they will be treating Yap’s case as the same with NLEX Road Warriors head coach Joseller “Yeng” Guiao, who is a former public official in Pampanga.
“Parang si Coach Yeng, ‘di ba,” Marcial said in an interview with ABS-CBN. “Suportado natin (si James), suportado ng team niya, suportado ng PBA. I wish him all the luck, sana maging konsehal nga siya at makatulong.”/PN
