Mayor Francis Zamora said playing basketball has shaped him into what he is today, especially in serving the residents of San Juan City.

During the Manila Bulletin (MB) Hot Seat forum on Thursday, March 31, Zamora, a former basketball player, was asked about the things he has learned as a sportsman and how it has helped him in performing his role as the city chief executive.

“How has this helped me? Number one: the physical and mental discipline of an athlete is something that you can use as a mayor. Your determination, your motivation to reach a goal. Now as mayor, you are tested physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically. It is no different with having to wake up at 3 in the morning, to get to La Salle at 5 in the morning, to train for five hours, and then after that, go to school, and then the next day, you do it all over again. So kinakailangan ‘yung disiplina sa pag-iisip, disiplina sa katawan. Nakakatulong talaga ‘yan (Discipline your mind and in your body is really essential)," Zamora said.

"Now if I have activities as early as 5 a.m., I can wake up. If the media will say "Mayor can I interview you at 6 a.m.?" I can wake up. If I have to stay up late because I have 20 scheduled events for the day, I can stay up late and still wake up the next day. ‘Yung disiplina importante ‘yan (Discipline is really imporant)," he added.

He also emphasized the importance of developing leadership skills, which he honed during his stint as a sportsman and his time as the team captain of a basketball team.

"I was the team captain, but we also have star players in our team. Hindi naman ako star player, alam ko naman role ko sa team. Marami kaming star players pero kahit mas magaling sila sa 'kin, nakikinig sila sa kin. And everyone knew what they had to do. Sila taga-score, ako taga-rebound, taga depensa. May kanya-kanyang roles sila, and this is something na na-manage ko even if they are more popular than me (I was not a star player and I knew my role in the team. We had a lot of star players who were better than me, but they still listened to me. Their task was to earn points, while I was the one earning rebounds and taking care of the defense. We all had our own roles and this was something that I managed even if they were more popular than me). Even if they are better than me, I was able to earn their respect. So as a team captain, I was able to keep the team together," Zamora said.

The mayor added that just like in the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Chicago Bulls which consists of several star players such as Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman, a good leader can keep all of these players intact for the same goal.

Sharing further his experience as a player, Zamora said he managed to improve himself and bounce back after losing a match.

Zamora recalled that when he lost in the 2016 mayoral race, he strived even harder to improve his service to his constituents and make up for the things that he felt he lacked.

As the city mayor, Zamora said the Covid-19 pandemic did not hinder him from performing his duties to his constituents.

"Ngayong pandemya, nakita ko na ang San Juan nangunguna sa laban. I was always out. I was always with them (During this pandemic, I see San Juan leading the fight against Covid). Covid never became a reason for me not to go out. Tungkulin ko bilang mayor ang pangunahan ang laban sa Covid (It is my duty as mayor to lead the fight against Covid) in spite of the risk of being infected,” he said.

“In fact I was infected once. My wife is a cancer survivor, my children are very young, but I had to make them understand that this is my duty,” he stressed.