February 29, 2020
（February 27, 2020 GMA News） Tim Tebow is set to reinforce the Philippine team in the World Baseball Classic qualifiers in March in Tucson, Arizona.
The former football star turned New York Mets minor league baseball player was born in Makati in 1987, but is not a Filipino citizen. So how can he suit up for Team Pilipinas?
Philippine Amateur Baseball Association secretary general Pepe Muñoz said that while baseball tournaments normally require a Philippine passport holder, the WBC has more relaxed rules for eligibility.
"Players who have parents or at least one parent born in the Philippines or carrying Philippine passports can play. In another case is the place of birth so if you're born in the Philippines, you're eligible also," he told GMA News Online in a phone interview on Thursday.
Muñoz said the WBC is a "special tournament" where cases like Tebow's are allowed.
Tebow, 32, spent his first three years in the Philippines where his parents served as Baptist missionaries.
They eventually moved back to the United States, where Tebow embarked on a decorated college football career, bagging the Heisman Trophy in 2007 before playing in the NFL from 2010 to 2015.
In 2016, Tebow made the switch to baseball, where he has spent the past five seasons in the minor leagues.
Last season, the outfielder batted .163 with four home runs and 19 run-batted-ins over 77 games at Triple-A Syracuse.
Tebow has kept up ties to the Philippines, even attending training sessions of Manny Pacquiao. The Philippines will participate in Pool 2 of the WBC along with Czech Republic, Great Britain and New Zealand.
The Philippines will first play against Czech Republic on March 20. —JST, GMA News
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