17 MARCH 2019

SPORTSPLUS
20
SUNDAY
Sunday, 17 March 2019
Daily Tribune
What’s stalling
the SEA Games?
VARGAS
RAMIREZ
POC executive council members,
most of them aligned with
Cojuangco, accused Vargas and
his men of acting on their own
on SEA Games-related matters
By Julius Manicad
Preparations for the country’s
hosting of the 30th Southeast
Asian Games are hardly moving
with barely eight months left before the
opening ceremonies.
Some quarters say the setback was
brought by the untimely leadership change
in the Philippine Olympic Committee
(POC). Others claim it was due to the
national government’s failure to approve
and release the proposed SEA Games
budget on time.
Even the government guarantee took
some time before it was released and
it was just in a form of a memorandum
circular — not through an executive order
similar to former President Arroyo’s during
the country’s previous hosting of the biennial
meet in 2005.
Shortly upon his return,
Cayetano immediately
assembled the Phisgoc and
kicked off the SEA Games
preparation.
But this tight situation was caused
by the undefined roles and blurred lines
separating the three major bodies tasked
to hold hand in making sure the regional
sportsfest will be a success — the POC,
the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC)
and the Philippine Southeast Asian Games
Organizing Committee (Phisgoc).
Simple structure
When the POC was awarded the hosting
during the staging of the 28th SEA Games
in Singapore in 2015, the first major order
of business by POC president Jose “Peping”
Cojuangco was an audience with Executive
Secretary Salvador Medialdea, who had
just assumed his post following the victory
of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Medialdea tapped Sen. Miguel Zubiri to
help, serving as the overall chairman in a
SEA Games body that will be composed
of Cojuangco and PSC chairman William
“Butch” Ramirez.
“The structure before was simple: The
POC will run the SEA Games while the
PSC will fund it. No government fund will
pass through the hands of the POC nor
any organizing committee,” said a senior
POC official, who attended the first few
meetings of the three-man panel.
“We learned our lesson from the previous
SEA Games. We had only P500 million, but
P27 million got disallowed. We didn’t want it
to happen again, so we made it clear that the
POC will not touch any government money
and will just focus on the training of athletes
and organization of the event.”
But the initial agreement was not to
happen.
A terror siege erupted in Marawi City,
prompting President Duterte to come up with
a memorandum diverting all government
resources to the rehabilitation effort. Like a
loyal solider, Ramirez followed the President’s
order and declared that the country will be
pulling out of the hosting chore.
A few weeks later, Zubiri stepped down
and Thailand floated willingness to host. The
Thais even went to the extent of claiming
that can host “even if the SEA Games are
held tomorrow.”
Just like that, the country’s hosting was
officially dead.
Revival
But former Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan
Peter Cayetano came in to save the hosting.
His arrival in the SEA Games picture
came at a perfect time. It was when the
SEA Games Federation Council was already
asking if the country will still push through
with the hosting and Cojuangco was looking
for one to fill the huge void left by Zubiri.
Cayetano, whose only involvement in
sports was as patron of the Philippine
women’s volleyball team, was suddenly
thrown into the limelight and received the
SEA Games flag from outgoing SEA Games
Federation Council president Tunku Imran
during the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in 2017.
Shortly upon his return, Cayetano
immediately assembled the Phisgoc and
kicked off the SEA Games preparation at
the same time when the Bases Conversions
Development Authority was starting to build
a multibillion-peso stadium to serve as hub
of the Games in Capas, Tarlac.
Setbacks
But stability in the country’s SEA Games
hosting didn’t last long.
In February of 2018, Cojuangco was
booted out of power after the Pasig Regional
Trial Court recalled the 2016 POC elections.
Boxing chief Ricky Vargas prevailed in the
court-ordered polls and declared readiness
to lead the country’s SEA Games hosting.
Vargas’ honeymoon period as new POC
boss, however, wasn’t sweet.
POC executive council members, most
of them aligned with Cojuangco, accused
Vargas and his men of acting on their own on
SEA Games-related matters. They stressed
that most of his decisions regarding the
biennial meet did not have board approval
and they were being left in the dark about
the preparations.
My boss here is the President.
If they can’t do anything
about it, then we will take
charge because I am under the
instruction of the President
and the Executive Secretary.
Then Cayetano stepped down as secretary
of the DFA to chase a congressional seat in
Taguig City.
With Cayetano, also a former senator,
giving up his government position, he
made himself no longer qualified to
receive government fund, prompting the
bicameral conference committee to lodge
his proposed SEA Games budget from the
DFA to the PSC.
The budget was also slashed from P7.5
billion to only P5 billion, a 33-percent
reduction that would definitely have an
impact on the success of what is billed
as the “biggest, most extravagant SEA
Games ever.”
Few weeks later, the Commission on
Audit sent the PSC a notice inquiring if
there was a memorandum of agreement
or a board resolution from the POC
appointing Phisgoc as the chief organizer
of the SEA Games. The state-run auditing
firm said this MoA or BR will serve as the
CAYETANO
basis for the PSC to disburse money to a
private entity such as Phisgoc.
There was none.
With Phisgoc having no money, no
power and no legal personality while
bickering and unrest cloud over the POC,
the country’s hosting of the SEA Games
is on the brink.
Undefined roles
Phisgoc is now calling the shots in
other SEA games-related matters such as
broadcasting, transportation, marketing,
security and official outfitter of the
athletes, officials and thousands of SEA
Games volunteers.
POC executive council member
Prospero Pichay said everything the
Phisgoc is doing should pass through the
POC executive council.
“As far as the POC is concerned, we
have not recognized it (Phisgoc),” said
Pichay, president of the chess association
and top supporter of Cojuangco.
“It is not authorized to enter into
contracts that has anything to do with the
SEA Games.”
Pichay added that Vargas carries only a
single vote in the POC board so his decisions
that favor Phisgoc doesn’t reflect the stand
of the entire POC executive board.
“There is also no resolution that the
president of the POC will be part of Phisgoc.
In other words, if he’s there in Phisgoc,
he’s there in his personal capacity, not as
president of POC,” Pichay said.
“Because in anything the POC president
does, there should always be a board
resolution.”
ZUBIRI
COJUANGCO
The confusion isn’t limited to POC and
Phisgoc alone.
In his rabid desire to win the overall
title, Ramirez stated he will spearhead
the creation of a SEA Games task force
that will screen the qualification of SEA
Games-bound athletes and start drumming
up the preparations for the Games.
He also lit a fire from under chief of
mission Monsour del Rosario, saying that
if he takes his sweet time, the PSC will
definitely take over.
“Give me a week or two. If nothing
happens, we will start drafting our own
SEA Games activities,” Ramirez said.
“My boss here is the President. If they
can’t do anything about it, then we will take
charge because I am under the instruction of
the President and the Executive Secretary.”
The hosting of the SEA Games — the
event that’s supposed to unite a heavily
fractured country — is in danger of a great
collapse.
And we only have eight months to save
the Games.
United/divided basketball
Clearly, there is a need to rationalize the establishment of
leagues to ensure its continued patronage
By Joel Orellana
Basketball as a religion in this country is an understatement.
The numerous basketball leagues — from professional level to
inter-barangay — are enough proof that Filipinos are crazy for the
sport James Naismith invented.
The country organized the first pay-for-play league in Asia in Philippine
Basketball Association (PBA), established in 1975 and is now about to
celebrate its 44th year anniversary this April.
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the oldest collegiate
basketball league founded in 1924 and 14 years later, University Athletic
Association of the Philippines (UAAP) was formed, with some of the
founding members coming from the NCAA.
Then there are second-tier collegiate leagues like the National Capital
Region Athletic Association (NCRAA) established in 1993, the Women’s
National Collegiate Athletic Association (WNCAA), a league exclusively
for women formed in 1970, among others.
The Philippine Amateur Basketball League, later on known as
Philippine Basketball League, was founded in 1983 and became the
breeding ground of PBA stars. It closed shop in 2011.
I think it’s not hurting the sport. In fact, we are
providing jobs and opportunities for the players and
staff.
Last year, Sen. Manny Pacquiao established the Maharlika
Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), a regional semi-pro league
with former PBA Most Valuable Player Kenneth Duremdes as
its commissioner.
In 1998, a similar regional league named Metropolitan
Basketball Association (MBA) was founded and backed by
television giant ABS-CBN. It folded after five seasons, citing
financial and logistics concerns.
The love of Filipinos for basketball is immeasurable and their
thirst for hoops, whether as participants or spectators, is quenched
by these leagues.
But is too many basketball leagues good or bad for the sport?
The more, the merrier
Willie Marcial, the PBA’s 10th commissioner, is a firm believer
that the more basketball leagues, the better. The reason? Economics.
“Many people are benefiting from these leagues. From the players,
staff to the vendors and tricycle drivers in different venues. The more, the
merrier,” said Marcial, who started as the PBA’s statistician in 1983, became a
floor director of the league’s TV coveror and was appointed as media bureau
chief and special assistant to Commissioner Noli Eala in 2003.
“Even with the MPBL now, we’re okay with that. We don’t feel threatened
because for me, the more leagues, the better for the fans. It’s now a matter
of uplifting the quality of the games,” he added.
The PBA is made up of 12 teams, half of them are under the
umbrella of the Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP) group (TNT KaTropa,
Meralco and NLEX) and the San Miguel Corp. group (San Miguel,
Ginebra and Magnolia). Big companies Alaska, Phoenix, Rain or Shine,
Blackwater, NorthPort and Columbian Dyip are also parts of the league.
Duremdes shared the same sentiments as his MPBL is employing close
to 500 players from the 26 participating teams in the ongoing Datu Cup.
“I think it’s not hurting the sport. In fact, we are providing jobs and
opportunities for the players and staff. And there are a lot now playing in
the grassroots level,” said Duremdes. “I think it (having many leagues) is
doing positive things for the sport.”
Eala said the surplus of basketball leagues in the country is not hurting
the sport per se. What is suffering is its commercial viability.
And the former PBA commissioner said this will result in having
leagues that will lack in credibility and in the long run might lose
its appeal to the public.
“The growth of the sport is not being hurt by the establishment of
too many leagues, regardless of nature. In fact, I believe its popularity is
enhanced by these leagues. Basketball remains the envy of other sports
when it comes to sheer number of constituency,” said Eala.
“But too many leagues hurt the commercial viability of the sport. The
sports advertising pie is not growing and too many leagues, especially if they
BASKETBALL remains a religion among fans.
WOMEN’S basketball, neglected?
are not coordinated, will not survive financially and commercially,” he added.
And the scary part if this trend continues, according to Eala, this might
eventually affect the entire landscape of the sport.
“Clearly, there is a need to rationalize the establishment of leagues to
ensure its continued patronage,” he said.
Forgotten sector?
While basketball leagues for boys and men are abundant in the country,
the same cannot be said of the girls and women.
The reality is there is no women’s basketball league that is enjoying full
media coverage (print and broadcast) and support from private entities like
the PBA, UAAP, NCAA and even MPBL are getting.
Ewon Arayi, the former Perlas Pilipinas standout and now the coach
of Adamson Lady Falcons in the UAAP, said there is a handful of women’s
basketball leagues right now but they are not well coordinated.
“The problem is these leagues are not united. I established the Pinay
Ballers League in 2014 but instead of supporting it, some created new women’s
leagues and the support (from sponsors) is now divided,” said Arayi.
“It would be better if these leagues are well coordinated. And the problem
for some leagues, they use them to profit not to promote women’s basketball.
Don’t use the sport to become popular. Make the sport popular to get media
coverage and develop the grassroots level,” she added.
Right now, her Pinay Ballers League is on a hiatus and she plans to restart
the league this coming August.
It’s now a matter of uplifting the quality of the games.
National women’s team head coach Patrick Aquino said the women’s
sector need a solid backer to organize a well-funded tournament.
“Someone who can gamble like before in the WPBL,” Aquino said,
referring to the Women’s Philippine Basketball League of the PBL
formed in 1998 but lasted just two years. It was revived in 2008 for a
one-and-done season.
“It’s important so that the woman players have something to loop
up to after their collegiate careers. And I think, if we have one like
that, women’s basketball will be more competitive in international
competition,” he added.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, the body that is tasked to
promote the basketball in all sectors, is maintaining a women’s
national team but unlike its counterpart, is not enjoying the
kind of support the men’s team is getting.
Marcial said the PBA is planning to put up another 3x3
event for women like during the time of Commissioner Chito
Narvasa in 2015.
“We’ve been planning the 3x3 since last year. But this
season, we will launch it again,” said Marcial.
At least the PBA is again taking the initiative to promote
women’s basketball. Arayi and Aquino are hoping other
groups will follow.