The request of Gilas Pilipinas Men to replace Dwight Ramos with Rhenz Abando was approved during the FIBA Asia Cup technical meeting Monday night. 

Abando’s inclusion completes the 12-man lineup of the Philippines ahead of the quadrennial meet in Indonesia. It will provide a much-needed boost after Ramos was removed from the roster due to a shin injury. 

Abando will join Keifer Ravena, Carl Tamayo, SJ Belangel, RJ Abarrientos, William Navarro, Francis Lopez, Geo Chiu, Kevin Quiambao, Thirdy Ravena, Ray Parks, and Poy Erram. 

The reigning NCAA MVP out of Letran made his national team debut in the FIBA World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers earlier this month. In two games in the third window, he posted 6.2 points in 15.3 minutes of action. 

The Philippines will open the tournament versus Lebanon on July 13 at 9:00 PM. Gilas will then take on India on July 15 at 4:00 PM and finish the group phase against New Zealand on July 17 at 9:00 PM. Games will be live on One Sports, One Sports+, Smart Gigaplay, and CignalPlay.