PBA governors reach ceasefire agreement

MANILA, Philippines – All gentlemen and corporate people they are, the opposing groups in the PBA board of governors have reached an agreement to shelve talks on the fate of commissioner Chito Narvasa until they sit down together in their planning session in Los Angeles next week.

The MVP/PLDT-led bloc and the five-man group led by league governors from San Miguel Corp. have agreed to resolve the brewing issue among themselves in their crucial November 14 conference.

The SMC group on Friday called on PBA director for external affairs Willie Marcial to extend the message warmly accepted by the other group.

But before the truce, incoming board chair Ramoncito Fernandez and the six other governors in their group made a statement urging Narvasa to make the supreme sacrifice to voluntarily step down from office to prevent a division of the PBA board.

“If the commissioner really loves the PBA and the public as he conveniently espouses, he may make the supreme sacrifice of voluntarily stepping down to prevent a division of the board and stalled basketball operations,” said the group in a statement. “Maybe with his ultimate sacrifice the public will forget the past and give honor to his act of leaving the post.”

Narvasa has said he’s ready to resign but is staying on to fight for the proper rules and procedures to be followed.

“I know that I’m here only temporarily, but as long as the issue isn’t resolved, I will not abandon the PBA which we all love, all the Filipinos love,” Narvasa said.

He said he’s heeding the call of his lawyers and the five PBA governors to fight for the procedures.

“I’m willing to resign as I don’t need this. I don’t want enemies and I want the people in the PBA happy. I’m ready to sacrifice. But for principle, then I must stay,” he said. “The board must be able to determine what’s the right decision, what’s the right process, then come up with the right decision.”

The seven governors insisted they’re not firing Narvasa but not supporting the renewal of his term “which has effectively expired at the end of the 42nd season.”

“Mr. Narvasa clearly knows that his term is on a yearly basis as this is contained in the minutes of the meeting of the board as well as when he assumed the post of chief operating officer which has a term limit of one year,” their statement said.

The contended their action of not supporting the extension of Narvasa’s term “was precisely to prevent the futile exercise of one proposing his reappointment which needs eight affirmative votes.”

They said Narvasa would not get the number with the non-support of a great majority.

“It pains us that in order to remove the heat from him, Narvasa conveniently uses other issues to divert the real situation that a majority of the board including the public do not want his continued stay,” their statement said.

“Regrettably Narvasa, in clinging to the position, is using the current situation to divide the board to the detriment of the PBA and the public.

“With his continued defiance, there will be a situation that the PBA will not be able to operate since any act of the commissioner needs the affirmative support of a majority of the board which he regrettably doesn’t have.”