THE Senate on Tuesday moved closer to granting Filipino citizenship to Fil-Am athletes Bennie Francois Boatwright III and Matthew James Ramos with an eye to boosting the country’s performance when competing internationally.
Senators lined up to express support for the initiatives, after Sen. Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan delivered the omnibus sponsorship of two committee reports: one in consideration of House Bill No. 6639 granting citizenship to Boatwright and another in consideration of HB 6644 granting citizenship to Ramos.
The House measures correspond to Senate Bill 1595, authored by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, and Senators Pia Cayetano, and Bong Go, for Boatwright’s case; and SB 1613, authored by Go, in the case of Ramos.
Co-sponsoring the move was Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, a known sports patron, and followed by Senators Pia Cayetano and Juan Miguel Zubiri, both award-winning athletes; and Sen. Bong Go.
The Senate, however, later suspended consideration of the sponsorship measure to allow senators to read all the documents.
Still, the mood in the chamber was to act favorably on the Pangilinan-led sponsorship, as requested by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
‘Matthew and Bennie are world-class athletes who, despite the many opportunities and paths available to them elsewhere, have chosen to cast their lot with the Filipino people,’ said Pangilinan in his omnibus sponsorship.
He described Ramos as ‘a decorated wrestler and a proud son of a Filipino-Pangasinense father, Cresente Holanday Ramos.’
At the height of a promising wrestling career in the US, Ramos ‘made the life-changing decision to represent the Philippines in international competitions and help elevate the sport of wrestling in our country,’ said Pangilinan. Ramos was runner-up in the 2023 NCAA championships and was hailed as Purdue University’s 60th All-American. He is a two-time NCAA qualifier and a two-time Big Ten placewinner-finishing seventh in 2022 and third in 2023. He became the 2022 US Open champion in the 57-kilogram category and reached the NCAA championship round of 12 in the 133-pound division that same year.
He was also a two-time NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches Association) scholar and, at a young age, captured the 2018 cadet world championship in the 51-kilogram category.
Pangilinan said Ramos was ranked among the top wrestling recruits in the US by Flowrestling, Intermat and the Open Mat. ‘Despite these accolades and the many doors open to him in America, Matthew Ramos chose the Philippines.
He embraced not only our food-from adobo, to dinuguan, and to balut-if you are able to eat balut, you are very very Filipino in that sense. but also the deeper values that define us as a people: respect for elders through ‘po’ and ‘opo,’ the importance of family.’
Like adobo, ‘which is cooked differently in every region of the country, being Filipino comes in many forms. But whether in cooking, in sports, or in nationhood, what matters most is the heart, ang puso. And for Matthew Ramos, becoming Filipino is already in his heart. Boatwright III, meanwhile, is a 27-year-old basketball player from Los Angeles, whose talent and leadership have already inspired countless Filipino basketball fans,’ said Pangilinan.
‘Standing at 6 feet 10 inches, Bennie joined the San Miguel Beermen in December 2023 as the team’s import for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup. He played a crucial role in leading the Beermen to the championship, delivering 19 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists in the title-clinching game six,’ added Pangilinan.
‘But beyond his athletic ability, Bennie understands something deeply familiar to Filipinos: that basketball is never about one person alone. It is about trust, sacrifice, and teamwork.
‘That spirit mirrors our own Bayanihan tradition-the belief that people achieve greatness when they lift one another up.
‘By embracing the Philippines and choosing to stand with Filipino athletes, Bennie Boatwright strengthens not only our basketball program, but also our hopes of excelling on the international stage, defending our Asian Games title, and one day returning to the Olympics.’