Monday, July 21, 2008 Word war heats up By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
WE did not violate any rules.
The Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc (Cesafi) hit back at Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas SBP) executive director Noli Eala after Eala said they will have to explain in an inquiry why they joined a tournament organized by a rival faction.
Cesafi, and two of its members, the Southwestern University and the University of the Visayas, supported the Asian Universities Basketball Championship organized by the Prospero Pichay faction of the Basketball Association of the Philippines-SBP.
Their support prodded the Manny Pangilinan group—which have dropped the Baskeball Association the Philippines (BAP) from its name and renamed itself to just the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) since Pichay’s wing was the first to register BAP-SBP with the Securities and Exchange Commission—to question the loyalty of the Cesafi.
Cesafi, and two of its members, have also been ordered to face the ethics committee of SBP.
However, Cesafi sees no reason for the league to be called for any sort of loyalty check.
“As far as we are concerned, there weren’t any violations in Cesafi’s participation of the Asian Universities Basketball Championship,” said Cesafi representative to BAP-SBP Baldomero Estenzo.
Legitimate
Estenzo said, Cesafi is a stakeholder of BAP-SBP and they see nothing wrong in joining an event organized by Pichay’s group, which claims to be the legitimate BAP-SBP.
“The Bangkok Agreement states that the Fiba recognizes the corporation called BAP-SBP and wasn’t that the name of Pichay’s group that invited us in the AUBC?” Estenzo said.
During the elections of the Pangilinan group, Estenzo said he tried to ask why there are two groups in the basketball body but was reportedly rebuffed.
“We did not violate any rules. Well to violate a rule, there should have been a rule in the first place. But there were none to violate,” Estenzo said.
Why now?
Estenzo also wondered why Pangilinan’s group is only questioning them now, a week after the AUBC, when they had known all along that they were joining the event.
“They should have communicated with us and told us that we were wrong. They should have furnished us with a copy of all the rules that were broken,” said Estenzo.
Estenzo added that the schools, University of the Visayas and Southwestern University, should not be questioned because they merely acted upon the approval of Cesafi.
“They joined because they are the runnerup of the National Champion’s League (UV) and the champion of the National Schools Basketball Championship (SWU),” Estenzo said.
The NSBC was also organized by the Pichay group.
Estenzo added that they cannot stop the schools from joining because this is an opportunity for their players to hone their skills.
“Where else can you find an opportunity to play teams from China and Korea? It is very rare. And when it comes, we can’t just tell the teams not to take advantage of it. Pangilinan’s group does not have those to offer. It is not our fault that Pichay’s group is already implementing programs and they are still in the planning stages,” Estenzo said.
Estenzo also added that he had completed his investigation regarding BAP-SBP and will be reporting the findings to the Cesafi board this Wednesday.
‘Let’s see what happens in the board meeting. It could be dramatic,” said Estenzo, who is one of the brains behind Cesafi and is currently the basketball coordinator for University of Cebu.
