Kobe Paras, a 16 year-old Filipino basketball player with 6 ft 5 in and growing, is in Los Angeles, California, USA playing for a high school team (L.A.Cathedral) and bound for UCLA Bruins (University of California, Los Angeles) — the college basketball team that has produced the likes of Regie Miller, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton and Matt Barnes.
He's the youngest son of PBA Legend Benjie Paras.
Credits: Ball Is Life
The young Paras last played for DLSU in the Philippines.
Very much aware of his dreams and abilities, with the help of his family, Kobe is pursuing his dream of playing for NBA.
By watching the video of Ball Is Life, I will not be surprised that he could really be the first Filipino to ever play in the National Basketball Association.
Very evident, he's very much a total package (both offense and defense) — see for yourself in the video below.
AFP Cavaliers, PNP Responders, Judiciary Magis, MMDA Black Wolves, Malacanang Patriots, DOJ Justice Boosters, Senate Defenders, HOR Solons, BFP Fire Fighters, GSIS Furies and NHA Builders — these are the teams composing the 3rd serving of the first public service basketball tournament in the Philippines, the UNTV Cup.
It started last November 17, 2014 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
I haven't made it to the venue but at least I was able to monitor it via its webstreaming at www.untvweb.com.
It was attended and participated by luminaries in the government like Senators Sonny Angara and Senator Ralph Recto, Supreme Court Justice Midas Marquez, TESDA Sec. Joel Villanueva and Representative Niel Tupas.
Credits: Senator Sonny Angara's Instagram
The tournament, running on its 3rd season, is anchored to public service as it was the brainchild of BMPI-UNTV CEO Daniel Razon, known to be Kuya and Mr. Public Service.
It aims to promote camaraderie among the participating branches of the government and the prize of the winning teams will be donated to the team's chosen beneficiary.
UNTV Cup's Season 1 champion Judiciary Magis were able to give P1-M pesos to the victims of Zamboanga Siege and Bohol Earthquake. Season 2's champion AFP Cavaliers have donated P1.5-M to AFP-EBSO or the AFP Educational Benefit System Office. The PNP Responders as 1st runner up for seasons 1 and 2, have donated a total of at least P1-M total to its chosen beneficiaries.
Indeed, it's an intelligent alternative for basketball fanatics and a way to break your usual Sunday family afternoon entertainment starting at 2PM.
Sunday comes and you have to lay your back and watch TV as a way to unwind or just simply a bonding time with your family.
So you click the TV remote and you browse the programming on the channels.
Don't be surprise if you stumble upon at 2PM a basketball game of unfamiliar faces and of unusual physique of a stereotype professional basketball player.
YES, they are quite old as most of them are in their late 30's and they are commoners --- most of them. It is because they are not really PRO Ballers.
UNTV Cup, that is. A basketball game for a cause of which the participants are the employees of various government agencies with some reinforcements from celebrity world and from roster of the retired legends of PBA.
It is already on its 2nd season as it had it's opening ceremonies last February 11, 2014 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
As conceptualized by it's UNTV Cup's founder and originator, who is known to be Mr. Public Service Kuya Daniel Razon, it aims to promote camaraderie among its participating team and promote public service driven basketball which is not your usual 'play for pay' league.
So where does the public service takes part? It is in the prize that the champion team, the 1st runner up, 2nd and 3rd runner ups that they have to donate for their chosen charities. And in this Season 2, Kuya Daniel announced that the participating teams will have their respective public service booth on the game venue to where the UNTV Cup audience can also have inquiries and pleads to any of the government agencies such as PHILHEALTH, PNP, DOJ, Supreme Court, AFP, Malacanang, LGU, MMDA, House of Representatives and Senate of the Philippines.
It is reported that the Team Judiciary, the champion of UNTV Cup season 1, have donated their 1 MILLION Cash prize to their chosen charities in the victims of Zamboanga Siege and Bohol Earthquake and also have extended to Yolanda victims last year.
Moving forward: UNTV Cup Season 2 elimination games will start this Sunday, February 16, 2014 at 2 pm. It's a 3-game sched between teams like PNP Responders, Malacanang Patriots, MMDA Black Wolves, LGU Vanguards, Judiciary Magis and AFP Cavaliers.
Actually the first elimination game was between the team Senate Defenders and the HOR Solons. The names that were flamboyant on that game was Congressman Niel Tupas Jr, Senator Sonny Angara, former PBA Legends Kenneth Duremdes and Zaldy Realubit as they themselves are already names in their own rights but they really played well on that match up.
Back to the Garden of Eden, since Adam transgressed God, God has commanded to the first couple to grow their own food as can be read in the Book of Genesis 3:17-19.
As reported in the Old Testament in the Bible, great men of faith I can recall have aged hundreds of years like Abraham – 175 years, Issac – 180 years, Jacob – 147 years and Noah – 950 years.
In it's original state the whole creation is perfect — clean and pure — no pollution of all sorts.
Thousands of years after, as the need and greed of man arose, inventions came to existence in order to produce more crops and more food products.
The byproduct of these inventions are pollution in water, air, soil and even in genetic composition of God's Creation through the genetic modification which produces GMO or the Genetically Modified Organism.
Today, traces of harmful and toxic chemicals can be found in what man considers to be 'healthy" such as green leafy vegetables with pesticides, fishes with toxic chemicals and the likes. All because of that 'need and greed' to earn money easily.
I have read in a Facebook post of my friend from a truthful advice of the Bible Scholar from the Philippines, Bro. Eli Soriano, it reads, "Your food should be your medicine."
I strongly believe that because God didn't create anything bad, first of all.
But, again, because of Man's need and greed for money (commercialization) that's why the food we eat now are the one's that kills us slowly.
So how to be sure of what we eat? I am thinking of backyard farming in which you grow your own food where you can be sure that it will grow naturally.
And fusing to the some technology — AQUAPONICS.
There could be a lot of AQUAPONICS reference in YouTube University but I would just leave you with this.
Lately, my fingers have been itching to write a blog (for the nth time). I don't know why but I feel have to.
Like many others with many responsibilities in life, it seems like it's a real privilege to have a blog because it would require one to have enough time and lots of creative juice.
Through this electronic 'wall', I hope I could connect to everybody and be helpful to them.
I just hope this wouldn't be my last post.
Quoting from a Boyzone's song: 'I don't know but I believe..."
