'Palakpakan natin ang dapat palakpakan': June Mar Fajardo stays gracious in defeat vs Meralco

For the first time in his career, June Mar Fajardo lost in a Philippine Cup championship round as San Miguel stumbled to gutsy Meralco to rule the 2024 All-Filipino Cup on Sunday. 

Still, the reigning MVP takes everything in stride and remains gracious, stressing that the time of the Bolts has come.

"Sayang [pero] gano’n talaga eh. Sayang kasi sa tingin namin kaya namin manalo talaga ng championship, kaya namin manalo sa series na ‘to pero gano’n talaga," Fajardo said on the heels of their 80-78 Game 6 loss on Sunday.

"Gano’n talaga ang sports, kailangan nating tanggapin ‘yung pagkatalo natin. Maybe, time naman ng Meralco na mag-champion ngayon."

(It could've been better, but that's it. We thought we could win the championship, we could win the series, but that's it. That's sports, we need to accept the loss. Maybe it is Meralco's time to be a champion.)

Ever since Fajardo was drafted by the Beermen back in 2012, he has never lost a Philippine Cup title, helping the franchise win the said conference from 2014 to 2019 to further cement their legacy in the league. 

They repeated the same feat in 2022 when the Beermen survived a grueling seven-game series against another fierce competitor in TNT. 

But San Miguel can't find the answer this time around, falling prey to the Bolts who are eyeing to end years-long finals frustrations to finally deliver the team's first-ever PBA title.

Fajardo, though, simply said Meralco was the better team in the series. 

"Palakpakan natin ‘yung dapat palakpakan, i-congratulate natin ‘yung dapat i-congratulate," Fajardo, whose triple in the final three seconds tied things up at 78-all, added.

"Syempre masakit na natalo pero gano’n talaga ‘yung buhay. Nanalo kami ng championships pero maybe time na rin ng Meralco ngayon. Baka nakatadhana sa kanila ‘yung championship na ‘to. Ang ganda rin naman ng nilaro nila."

(Let's give a round of applause, congratulate those who are deserving of it. Of course it hurts, but that's life. We win championships but maybe it's their time. Maybe it's destined for them. They really played well.)

Amid the loss, Fajardo is already setting his sight on the next conference as they look to regroup and bounce back.

"Kami naman heads up lang kasi hindi pa naman end of the world para sa amin eh. May next conference pa naman."

(We'll just keep our heads up because it's not yet the end of the world for us. The next conference still awaits us.)

—JKC, GMA Integrated News