Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. hailed Gilas Pilipinas on their resounding victory over Saudi Arabia on Philippine soil on Monday at the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Marcos stated on his social media accounts that he was optimistic that the Philippine squad would keep bringing respect to the country by representing the nation in the international basketball event.

“Kumpiyansa tayo na gagawin nila ang lahat ng kanilang makakaya para makapagdala ng karangalan sa bansa,” his letter stated.

Marcos was present with a large audience on Monday evening as Gilas Pilipinas defeated visiting Saudi Arabia 84-46.

Aside from Marcos, former President Rodrigo Duterte and his former special assistant, Senator Bong Go, were part of the and over 19,000 persons in present.

In the same contest, Filipino-American NBA standout Jordan Clarkson of the Utah Jazz made his debut for the Philippine squad. Gilas had a poor start, trailing the visiting squad in the first three quarters before gaining momentum and outperforming Saudi Arabia in the third.

“The one thing that we wanted to focus on before the game was to just get better. To play better than our previous game against Lebanon. That meant having better effort, and specifically, cutting down on our turnovers,” Gilas coach Chot Reyes stated after the win.

“I think today, we had 15 turnovers, and that’s pretty acceptable. So very happy for the result, and even happier for the effort that the players put forth in this ball game,” he added.