MVP reaches out to FIBA Asia Secretariat, Lebanese people

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Chairman Emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan has offered his sympathy to Hagop Khajirian, FIBA executive director for Asia and CEO of the FIBA Asia Secretariat, following the two huge blasts that rocked Beirut last Tuesday.

“It was with great sadness when I learned about the most regretful explosion in the Port of Beirut,” said Pangilinan in an emailed letter addressed to the Lebanese FIBA Asia official Friday.

Pangilinan, now on his second term as FIBA Central Board member, added: “I join the people of your city, and the people of Lebanon, in their hour of grief and suffering, and send to them our prayers and our thoughts.”

The PLDT and Smart chairman and longtime Philippine sports patron also expressed the hope “that Beirut can recover quickly and fully from this unfortunate disaster.”

He closed with his “deepest sentiments and all good wishes.”

Among the structures reportedly damaged by the massive explosions was the FIBA Asia headquarters and several national sports offices.