Dormant for the last 10 years, Sinag Liga Asya is bringing back the basketball tournament between the Department of Justice and its attached agencies as the inaugural Inter-Agency Secretary’s Cup fires off on Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Nine teams led by the DOJ along with the other agencies under its umbrella like the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) are set to battle for basketball glory in the tournament that spans three months.

Also in the fold are teams from the Bureau of Immigration (BI), Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), Land Registration Authority (LRA), and the Parole and Probation Administration.

“We are very excited to be here lalo na po ang DOJ ang unang napili ng SLA to be a participant in the inter-agency basketball tournament,” said Justice Assistant Secretary Atty. Mico Clavano in a press conference held at the Izakaya Geronimo in Bonifacio Global City on Thursday, Jan. 9.

“We hope this league will bring us closer together dahil sa isang department kailangan po talaga na iyong camaraderie between the agencies is very strong, for us to be an efficient and effective department,” he added.

Joining Clavano in the event were SLA chairman Rocky Chan, president and chief executive officer Ray Alao, chief operating officer Leo Isaac, Commissioner Rodney Santos and his deputies John Ferriols and EJ Feihl.

“Nagpapasalamat po talaga kami sa Sinag Liga Asya dahil pinili nila kami sa chance na makapaglaro at maipakita din iyong skills. We are very happy and very blessed na nandito po tayo lahat and we are very excited for this tournament to finally get it kick-started. We just wanted to, again, thank our sponsors Okada Manila and Hotel 101 for also making this possible,” he added.

“I just want to clarify kasi na itong league na ito not a single centavo of the DOJ budget was used. This was all hosted by Sinag Liga Asya sila pa iyong naghanap ng mga sponsors para dito,” Clavano said of the tourney supported by DOJ chief Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla.

Agencies can build a team composed of employees who are more than six months in service and at least 28 years old. Former professional players can suit up for the teams as long as they are also working for the agencies although they must be inactive from professional games for five years.

One Fil-foreign employee can also be tapped by each team.

DOJ takes on PCGG in the opening match at 6 p.m. after the opening ceremonies at 2 p.m. while NBI battles BI in the nightcap at 8 p.m.

Games will be played at 6 and 8 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday, and 5 and 7 p.m. every Saturday for the government agencies to be free from work-related conflict.