Vlogger group Mav's Phenomenal Basketball in hot water for playing out-of-town games

A group of basketball vloggers has come under fire for playing games out of town amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On its YouTube channel, which boasts of over 1.69 million subscribers, Mav's Phenomenal Basketball shared videos that show a group of men traveling to different barangays and cities for matches.

Earlier this month, videos of them playing in Bulacan were posted, most recently in Guiguinto.

None of them could be seen wearing masks in the videos, not even the viewers who came to watch, and those were did have masks weren't wearing them properly.

According to a report by Vonne Aquino on "State of the Nation," Guiguinto Mayor Ambrosio Cruz Jr. was surprised by the videos.

"Paano nangyari ito, kasi very strict ang aming order na walang contact sports, most specifically basketball," he said during an interview. "Maliwanag 'yun, we will never allow basketball in Guiguinto."

Apparently, the group had played in a private court in Barangay Tabang, among other places.

According to Cruz, even the barangay captain was clueless.

He said that he had ordered for the violators to be hunted down and fined P1,000 for the violation of health protocols.

"Bakit nila ginagawa ito, meron tayong pandemic. They should be advised and they should be discouraged, and I think they should be jailed for doing this one," Cruz said.

"Ginagawa nilang katatawa-tawa to eh, pati kami na nananahimik dito sa aming bayan tinatamaan. At the end of the day ang na-e-endanger dito ang kalusugan ng kababayan ko," he added.

Malolos Vice Mayor Len Pineda, who was also shown the video, said that there seemed to be a betting pool that reached P6,000 during the game held in his city.

"Isa sa mga kinakailangang magpaliwanag at managot diyan ay ang barangay na nakakasakop dito," he said.

GMA News reached out to the group, but a relative of one of the members refused to let them speak, merely saying that they all followed protocols.

One member meanwhile said to just speak to their lawyers. —JCB, GMA News