Demolition job or cover-up

The coach of the De la Salle University senior varsity basketball team, Franz Pumaren, has come out in public to lament an alleged "demolition job" against him in connection with the player ineligibility scandal plaguing the school and the UAAP itself.

Franz says that a group of DLSU alumni are behind the smear campaign. One of the conspirators, he adds, is after his coaching job. He denies any involvement in any fabrication of the test results for the college eligibility of two La Salle players named in the current imbroglio.

He also disclaims any interest, financial or operational, in AMG International, Inc., the player management company which allegedly corners promising La Salle players for recruitment into the company’s stable. The allegation is that those who refuse to sign up with AMG somehow find themselves benched or under-utilized. Those who do sign are built up so as to enhance their market value upon graduating to the pro leagues.

Franz says his only mistake was to allow AMG to "use" his name and the names of people close to him, and that he "explained his position" to DLSU officials "some years back." Mike Gonzales, a player agent who recruits both in this country and in the US, allegedly solely owns the company. Franz insists he’s never forced players to sign up with AMG and wouldn’t risk his reputation by giving playing time to poor players just because they signed up with AMG.

This is Franz’s position. In the interest of fairness, I have offered him more opportunity to respond to all open questions and I understand we will be discussing this face-to-face very soon. I’m glad he has finally come out in media to explain himself. I’d like to assure him that this Atenean and many other true-blue alumni do not relish the present scandal swirling around the UAAP. Also, let’s be clear that the identity of the school under fire is totally coincidental. If any other school were similarly guilty, including the Ateneo, we’d also be screaming to the high heavens.

Now then, let me say a few things about the alleged demolition job on Franz. First of all, it should be clear at the outset that the matter of the allegedly faked Department of Education certifications of college eligibility shouldn’t be tied up with any supposed involvement of the coach in the procurement of such documents. If the DepEd certifications were false, then there can be no question that the players fielded by the team concerned were ineligible.

Under UAAP rules, all the games in which ineligible players are included in the team-lineup are deemed forfeited and awarded to the opponent. The offending team is then subject to a penalty at the discretion of the league board. The gravity of that penalty will, I gather, also depend on who else among team and school officials are found responsible or at least complicit in the offense. All this, of course, is without prejudice to whatever criminal prosecution and civil cases are warranted due to the falsification of DepEd documents.

Second, in accusing certain unnamed persons "within the La Salle community" of orchestrating the demolition job against him, Franz has upped the ante. If he asks for fairness, it is also incumbent upon him to be fair and to name names, or otherwise come up with some kind of proof, not necessarily evidence admissible in a court of law, to substantiate his allegations. Otherwise, he taints everyone in that community and scatters the stench indiscriminately.

The allegation that someone interested in his job is part of the demo crew is particularly interesting. If true, it leads naturally to such questions as: What is it in the job of varsity senior basketball coach that would impel a La Salle alumnus to do something as vile as falsely besmirching a coach of unquestioned accomplishment?

On the other hand, some DLSU alumni, who are clearly not part of the alleged demolition crew but are just as much in the dark as the public at large, assert that certain fellow alumni might have simply raised legitimate questions, the answers to which have not quite been complete or entirely candid. Their persistent inquiries can hardly be deemed accusations, much less involvement in a demolition job. That makes sense.

Third, I must admit some puzzlement at the stance that although he had absolutely nothing to do with AMG International, the company owned solely by active player agent Mike Gonzales, Franz’s "mistake" was that he allowed his name and the names of people close to him to be used by the company. Moreover, he supposedly disclosed the whole situation to DLSU executive vice president Dr. Carmelita Quebengco "some years back."

Franz doesn’t reveal when he realized his "mistake," but the record does not show that he rectified the error by asking his sister-in-law to disengage from the company to remove any suspicions of hanky-panky. Nor, I must add, did the spouse of the current team manager acknowledge the same mistake or relinquish her shares in AMG. This needs clarification. Their continued participation in the company may lead suspicious minds to suspect that they were mere nominees for the real parties-in-interest.

If everything was above board, Franz and Terry Capistrano could have been open about their participation in AMG. It was unnecessary to interpose other persons. After all, the school, through Dr. Quebengco, already knew of the situation and, presumably, raised no objection. But at the very least, Mr. Gonzales should have considered the awkwardness of dealing with De la Salle players who were still under the tutelage, and arguably the pervasive influence, of the coach and the team manager.

These are among the questions Franz’s claim of a demolition job raises. I trust he’s got reasonable answers to them.

By the way, I know I told you last time that I’d discuss some terms and stipulations, which I find simply draconian, in typical AMG player management contracts signed by Mr. Gonzales. On the other hand, these terms may be "standard" in the business. We’ll discuss those contract provisions at our earliest opportunity.