CEBU CITY -- Former basketball star Dondon Hontiveros just got the shot of his life with a victorious finish at the Cebu City council.

The ball is now in the hands of the 41-year-old decorated sportsman to prove his worth as a public servant, after topping the councilor's race in the city's second district for the 2019 midterm polls.

Hontiveros got 160,984 votes so far, based on partial and unofficial results.

He said that despite his goal of winning, the number of votes he received still came as an overwhelming surprise.

Hontiveros ran under Team Barug with mayor-elect Edgar Labella as the standard bearer.

He admits being pressured to come up with proposed ordinances based on his platform on youth and sports.

Of his critics, he said: "You use that to help you get better because di na nimo sila ma please tanan (You can’t please them all)."

Hontiveros said that despite being a neophyte, he can learn so much from his fellow councilmen.

In 1998, he joined the hometown Cebu Gems in the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA), which paved way for his discovery in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

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