 In 1980, businessman and ambassador Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, founder and owner of Northern Cement Corporation, was appointed by the Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos to become the project director for basketball in the country.Cojuangco (despite not being an officer or member of the national basketball governing body at that time - the Basketball Association of the Philippines) was tasked to set up, finance, and develop the national basketball team to represent the country internationally.During that time, the best players in the country were playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), the first professional basketball league in the Philippines, and in Asia.