Huge Pinoy Turn Out at the Houston Rockets Filipino Heritage Night 2023: Presented by Eva Airways

By: Ryan Tejero, Editor-In-Chief

The Toyota Center in Houston was packed by Filipinos and Filipino Americans on November 1, 2023 to witness the Houston Rockets Filipino Heritage Night. This year’s event was very well-attended both by young and old basketball fans from Houston’s FilAm community. FilAms had a chance to secure their limited edition of Filipino Heritage Night hat with Philippine flag colors on it. Delicious Filipino food was served at the Toyota Center which includes some famous favorites such as Tocino Taco Longganisa Nachos, Tocino Rice Bowl and Lechon Kawali. 

Leaders in the Filipino community were featured on the wide screen prior to the official game started. The Philippine Consul General in Houston, Jerril Santos threw a free toss in the ring and successfully got a “ringless throw of the ball” which gave him a loud cheer from the crowd. Philippine Nurses Association in America, Dr. Gloria Beriones, and community leader Wally Arias had their brief moments to speak about the vibrant Filipino American community in Houston.

This year’s Houston Rockets Filipino Heritage Night was presented by Eva Air. Sylvia Wu from Eva Airways, Houston Branch met with One Philippines Texas News executives Bhong Zausa and Ryan Tejero at the Toyota Center to thank them in their participation and coverage of the event. Evar Air had invited other VIPs from local media establishments to watch the basketball game in their private suite. One Philippines was given media credential by Houston Rockets to cover the event along with other Houston media organizations.

One Philippines Publisher and owner, Bhong Zausa, with his camera men captured some moments of Filipinos watching the game. Bhong said “The Houston Rockets Filipino Heritage Night is a very important tradition among FilAms here in Houston. It is our way of celebrating one of our most loved sports, which is basketball. I am so happy that we had a big turn out and everyone seemed to enjoy.”

The game was between Houston Rockets and Charlotte Hornets was won by Houston Rockets.