MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – The Armed Forces of the Philippines Reserve Command (RESCOM) has called hundreds of thousands of army reservists to active duty following the Philippines’ loss to China in yesterday’s FIBA Basketball Asia Championship game.  The Filipino team, Gilas, lost the 2015 title to China 78-67.

The 2015 FIBA Asia Championship game was held in Changsha, Huna, China.

The Filipinos accused China of cooking the game through bad calls by Chinese referees.

The Philippines and China are embroiled in a territorial dispute over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Till yesterday, the Philippine government has been passive in dealing with the dispute, choosing to resolve the hot button issue through diplomatic means, including filing a formal protest with the United Nations.

Gilas’ loss — its second failed attempt in a row at the much-coveted title — was too much for the Philippines to bear, so it decided to bear arms instead.

“We’ve been trying our best to be sportsman-like in dealing with the South China Sea conflict, but it seems that the Chinese  can’t be sport enough even in a supposedly friendly competition like basketball,” President NoyNoy Aquino said.

Among those called to active duty were Filipino champion boxer and Congressman Manny Pacquiao, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve;  and Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares, lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve.