Super rookie Mikey Williams would have been an added instant weapon to Gilas Pilipinas if he were eligible to play for the national squad.

But Williams believes he's not eligible to play for the Philippine, as he only secured his Philippine passport just recently. As per FIBA rules, foreign-born Filipino players must have secured a Philippine passport before turning 16, and in the former NBA D-League player's case he failed to do so.

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That means the only way Williams can suit up for the Philippine team is to use him as a naturalized player in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments. But in the Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games or invitational tournaments such as the William Jones Cup and East Asia League tournaments, he can play as a local.

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"I don't think I'm eligible to play," Williams said. "Since I only got my Philippine passport just recently. But if there's in any which I can help and play for the Philippines in other tournaments, that would be cool."

The closest Williams has played for the Philippines was at the Dubai International Tournament and the William Jones Cup while representing Mighty Sports, the country's representative in those club team tournaments.

Williams' case is similar to that of other foreign-born players such as Stanley Pringle, Chris Ross and even Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, one of the PBA's top prospects for the coming Rookie Draft this year even though his brother, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser is eligible to play in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments.

"I literally had a good conversation with my good friend, Jordan Heading, who is in the Gilas pool. I was laughing and told him, 'man, I wish I could join there and play with you guys for Gilas.' Obviously, the circumstances are a little different. Matt was born here in the Philippines, I was born in the States. There are hurdles I have to jump through," said the young Ganuelas-Rosser.

Al Panlilio, president of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, the sport’s national governing body, previously wrote the International Basketball Federation regarding the situation, especially those players born of mixed races, that they should be allowed to suit up as locals.

For Panlilio, categorizing foreign-born Filipino players as locals will allow the Philippines to be more competitive against its Asian rivals, especially with the inclusion of world powerhouse teams Australia and New Zealand, now included in the region as part of Asia Oceania.

According to Panlilio, FIBA Asia might be concerned about maintaining balance in its competition while stating that the federation's position is that Filipino dual citizens should be allowed to play as locals regardless of when they were issued passports as long as their bloodline with their country could be proven.