PBA rookie aspirant Caelan Tiongson admitted that it was such a bummer that he wouldn’t be around at Glorietta Makati to personally hear his name called and join his new team on the stage during the Season 49 Rookie Draft but also stressed that bringing honor and pride for the country is what matters most for him at this point.

Tiongson, along with fellow hopefuls Dave Ildefonso and RJ Abarrientos, are currently with the Strong Group Athletics team that is representing and flying the country’s colors in the 34th William Jones Cup in Taipei, Taiwan.

“It’s a bummer that me, RJ, Dave are gonna miss the PBA Draft for sure, but I will say it speaks for our professionalism,” said Tiongson who is also unlikely to even monitor the proceedings as they also have a game to play when the Draft begins on Sunday, July 14.

“All of us made a commitment to play for Strong, all of us made a commitment to represent the Philippines and we take that seriously as professionals,” added the 32-year-old forward who is finally making the leap to the PBA after stints in the ABL and Taiwan League and briefly retiring

Tiongson, as well as Ildefonso and Abarrientos, are projected to land on the first round of the PBA Draft.

The 6-foot-5 forward said that if he has no prior commitments with SGA, he would surely be present on the draft day.

“We hope that the league is understanding. Of course if we don't have this obligation we’ll all be there but right now we have a job to do,” said Tiongson.

“We are under contract and we want to bring home the gold and make the Filipinos proud so we’ll focus on that.