SBP, PBA weather ‘perfect storm’

MANILA, Philippines — SBP president Al Panlilio said yesterday a “perfect storm” created the scenario that led to the initial withdrawal of the Philippine national basketball team from the Asian Games in Jakarta but a change of heart triggered by the clamor of fans has brought a new spirit of unity to the sports community to play the game Filipinos love with a passion.

“It wasn’t an easy decision both ways,” said Panlilio. “Pulling out was a hard call. There were complex issues in what seemed to be a perfect storm. We thought of sending the nucleus of the TNT team but when FIBA came out with the sanctions for our participation in the brawl with Australia, we didn’t want to appear defiant by sending some of our suspended players. While FIBA is not directly involved in the Asian Games, we didn’t want to send a wrong message and be misinterpreted. We were in the process of studying the sanctions, trying to regroup and finding out how to approach this situation. Then came the proposal to send the core of the Rain Or Shine team. We thought about it carefully and felt while team owners Raymund Yu and Terry Que were willing to sacrifice, it wouldn’t be fair to put them on the firing line. The PBA schedule would also be compromised. Those were the compelling reasons for the withdrawal.”

Panlilio said after the withdrawal was announced, the SBP monitored public reaction.

“A third party kept track of monitoring media and while there were negative and positive reactions, on the whole, it was neutral,” he said. “The conclusion was the situation was manageable even if the decision was unpopular. But every day, the clamor to restudy our position grew. Last Friday, Secretary Bong Go, who’s a huge basketball fan, got in touch with PBA commissioner Willie Marcial to ask if the withdrawal could be reconsidered. Then, Secretary Go and I spoke. He understood the complexity of the situation and the issues involved but repeated his request for a reconsideration.”

As the clamor escalated, the SBP regrouped to assess the situation. “Circumstances changed within a short period of time,” said Panlilio. “Commissioner Willie worked quietly behind the scenes to get the approval of the PBA Board to tweak the schedule of games to make way for the Asian Games and the coming FIBA qualifying windows. Last Saturday, MVP (SBP chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan) called for a meeting at the PLDT office with POC president and PBA chairman Ricky Vargas, SBP executive director Sonny Barrios, Gilas head coach Chot Reyes, Gilas team manager Butch Antonio and me with Dr. Raffy Bejar. We presented MVP with a lineup for the Asian Games and he wanted to

hear from coach Yeng (Guiao) about it. Yeng arrived from out of town and by the time he came, MVP had left. Caloy (Garcia) also arrived. They went through the lineup. That night, we briefed MVP on developments. The next morning, Secretary Go and Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano spoke with MVP who then messaged us to go ahead.”

Panlilio said reversing the decision was prompted by the clamor of basketball fans. “Nagkabuo tayong lahat,” he said. “The PBA team owners got together to support this. The PBA will now open its next season in January and this hasn’t happened in a long time. But everyone’s willing to sacrifice for our basketball fans. Para sa bayan ito. Now that we’ve decided to move on, we ask the fans to support our team, whatever happens. It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t but we’re doing this for our country.”

Panlilio said from the government side, SBP chairman Sen. Sonny Angara, Secretary Cayetano and Secretary Go played key roles in the process of reversing the withdrawal. POC secretary-general Patrick Gregorio and San Miguel sports director Alfrancis Chua, acting on San Miguel Corp. president Ramon S. Ang’s instruction to go all-out to support the national team, were also instrumental in setting the stage for the change of direction.

“San Miguel offered Christian Standhardinger to join the team and coach Yeng welcomed it,” said Panlilio. “MVP opened his heart and listened to the basketball community. We’re all in this together and for our country, we’re all willing to sacrifice without limits.”