The Godfather

They say that there are only two sports in the country: Basketball and others.

RONALD Mascariñas has only one dream: See Filipino basketball players compete in the Olympics.

There’s no denying that Filipinos enjoy an intimate love affair with basketball.

Despite the many ironies and countless heartbreaks, Filipinos would still turn to basketball to find temporary shelter. The victories of Ginebra, the emergence of Gilas Pilipinas, the slam dunks of LeBron James and the long bombs of Stephen Curry seem like the love potion that would magically draw the Filipinos to basketball and make them forget all the social and economic problems the country is facing.

And even if they are not as tall as the Africans, as strong as the Americans or as methodical as the Europeans, the Filipinos would still come running back to basketball as of it is the only thing that keeps them breathing.

The president of Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. (BAVI) knows that basketball is the national past time so he bravely took a leap of faith and doled out whatever resources he has just to support the Filipinos in their quest for glory.

“We are not a brand that is related to sports, but we are coming from the fact that basketball is the No. 1 sport in the country,” said Mascariñas during his guesting in Daily Tribune’s “Straight Talk” last week.

At first, he was bankrolling Gilas Pilipinas, the men’s national basketball team.

But with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declaring that 3×3 basketball — or in street parlance, tatluhan — would be making its debut in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, Mascariñas realized that this is the event where the Filipinos would emerge successful.

Yes, they are not as tall as the Africans, as strong as the Americans and as methodical as the Europeans, but the Filipinos’ brazen ambition and tremendous love for basketball would definitely reflect on the 3×3 court.

It was a lightbulb moment that could change the fate of Philippine basketball.

Unlike the country’s biggest tycoons, Mascariñas wasn’t born with a silver spoon.

He started as a mere employee of Purefoods Corporation in 1983 before becoming the president of Smokey’s — a fast food brand that carries an array of hotdog products. Then, he rose from the ranks as he was promoted as senior vice president of Purefoods poultry and food service business unit, where he was branded as a rising star for being the youngest executive to hold such position.

Tennyson Chen, the president of Bounty Fresh Chicken, tapped Mascariñas to take the helm as the company’s operations were limited only in the Bulacan area.

Mascariñas knew that the ball was on his hands and he needed to come up with a thunderous slam to deliver the game-winner.

He formed his own team that would help him in accelerating the brand. From there, the BAVI expanded its operations nationwide until it developed something that would disrupt the market — Chooks to Go.

Mascariñas believed that instead of selling raw poultry products, it would be smart if they sell something that would not compromise the time and effort of their consumers, something that can be eaten right away and would serve as comfort food of people from all walks of life.

Two years later, Chooks to Go has become the market leader.

“So the key ingredients are one: Go against the international trend and follow your instinct,” Mascariñas said. “And second, invest on training your people and employees.”

“Products differentiation is important. The rest are the product quality. But the key to be ahead of the pack is to really be better equipped by training people on the ground.”

Now that Chooks to Go had already assumed the pole position in its industry, Mascariñas is setting his sight on a new venture, which is to lead the Filipino basketball players to the Olympics.

After fielding teams to a handful of international tournaments and sponsoring the Chooks to Go Pilipinas 3×3 season, the Philippines finally climbed to No. 21 in the latest ranking of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

With that, the country is now inside the top 24 and is already eligible to play in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT), which would unlock the doors to the Tokyo Summer Games.

“They say that there are only two sports in the country: Basketball and others,” said Mascariñas, who earned his Agriculture degree at University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna.

“So it’s already given that the Filipinos really love this sport and we just want to give joy to them by supporting the national team in its international endeavors.”

Actually, the country started at No. 59 in the FIBA rankings.

But with the Chooks to Go Pilipinas 3×3 rolling out its carpet on 16 February, the country’s standing steadily improved.

The inaugural staging of the tourney had three conferences which all have a Level 7 tournament rating. Aside from that, the country also hosted the world’s first-ever Super Quest last April, which has a Level 8 rating and the Challenger tourney that had a Level 9 classification.

More than that, Chooks to Go sent teams to the World Tour and multiple Challenger tournaments, including the Doha Masters and Challenger tourneys in Moscow, Haining, Poitiers, Xiongan, Sukhbaatar and Kaohsiung.

All in all, the Philippines drew 8,156,366 ranking points, enough to make it to the OQT, where four Olympic slots will be at stake.

Mascariñas knew that the Philippines would be marching to the OQT as heavy underdog.

“Gilas Pilipinas finished 32nd in the world during the 2019 FIBA World Cup and it just shows that being the underdogs do not stop us Filipinos in reaching our goals,” he said, vowing that they would go all out to clinch the elusive Olympic slot.

And with the rate he’s going, with the resources he’s pouring, it seems that he won’t chicken out from this massive challenge.