Eala ‘re-assigned’; Chua takes leave

MANILA, Philippines - The drama stirred by the recent shakeup at San Miguel Corp.’s teams took another interesting turn as the company has “re-assigned” consultant Noli Eala to another job within SMC, effectively uprooting him from the operations of its Philippine Basketball Association ballclubs.

Eala, SMC announced, has been tapped to “help out in the company’s infrastructure businesses as various projects are now either in full swing or at the development stages.” 

As such, the former PBA commissioner will no longer be involved in the day-to-day running of Barangay Ginebra, which is embroiled in a coaching woe with mentor Alfrancis Chua taking a “leave” for “personal reasons,” as well as fellow SMC clubs Petron and San Mig Coffee.

“The company believes that Eala’s managerial expertise and experience with various companies he handled in recent years will be very valuable in his new assignment in infrastructure, one of the high-growth areas for the company,” San Miguel Corp. said in a statement released yesterday.

Eala had been the target of fans’ criticism and hate postings on social media following Chua’s reported “resignation” due to what many perceived was “disagreement with management” on the personnel changes in the Gin Kings camp.

Eala had branded the bashing he was getting as “unfair,” claiming in one of his last postings on his Twitter account Tuesday that the bashers were “barking up the wrong tree.”

Chua, who led the Gin Kings to a runner-up finish in the last Commissioner’s Cup, will not be calling the shots for the league’s most popular team in the Governor’s Cup.

“Management also announced that it has accepted the request of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel head coach Alfrancis Chua for a leave of absence during the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup due to personal reasons,” SMC said. The company did not say whether Chua will be back after the conference.

“SMC assures the public, particularly its basketball fans that the operations of its basketball teams will continue to run smoothly despite Eala’s new role in the organization.”

Eala, meanwhile, drew support from Asi Taulava, who bag the MVP in the recent Asean Basketball League topped by San Miguel Beer.

“My heart bleeds for boss Noli Eala. He is my boss and I’m proud to call him a friend,” Taulava posted on Tweeter. “If you guys only knew how hard he worked for the SMC teams.”