THE Visayan host of the PBA All-Star Week has been named.
Iloilo City will be the site of the Visayas leg of the mid-season classic set for May 23 to 27 as announced on Friday, just as the All-Star balloting officially began.
Like last year, the All-Star Games will have Gilas Pilipinas, this time the pool playing in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, taking on a selection of players based on their respective places of origin.
The Mindanao All-Stars will battle Gilas in Davao City, the Luzon All-Stars will take on Gilas in Batangas City, and the Visayas All-Stars will face the nationals in Iloilo City.
It was reported that the Iloilo leg, which will take place at the University of San Agustin Gym, will happen on the final day of the All-Star Week on May 27.
Online voting for the PBA All-Star teams is ongoing at pba.ph/allstar while offline voting started just as the gates of the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City opened for the scheduled twin bill on Friday.
Voting will briefly end after the semifinals of the Philippine Cup, but resumes thereafter until the first week of the elimination round of the Commissioner's Cup.
The mid-season classic goes island-hopping again this year with Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao hosting a leg each from May 23 to 27.
This marks the second straight time the league will tour around Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao for the All-Star week following the tremendous success of the same formula adopted last year when Gilas Pilipinas battled three All-Star teams, each parading players representing the three major islands in the country.
The national team, then preparing for the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (Seaba) Championship and the FIBA Asia Cup, drew with the Mindanao All-Stars, before winning the leg against the Luzon and Visayas All-Stars.
The side events such as the slam dunk, three-point shootout, and the obstacle challenge were all held in the Luzon leg. (with reports from PNA)