Menk cleared to play in PBA

After a long, lonely wait, Fil-Am cager Eric Menk got a clearance to make a return stint in the Philippine Basketball Association as his request for recognition as a Filipino citizen was affirmed by the Department of Justice Wednesday.

No less than Justice Secretary Hernando Perez signed the confirmation paper, superseding earlier orders by the department which denied the marquee player's application for Filipino citizenship.

Original records and additional documents submitted by Menk "satisfactorily establish that applicant was born in Michigan on Aug. 24, 1974, the legitimate child of spouses Lucia Ramasasa Padua, a natural-born Filipino citizen, and Albert C. Menk Jr., an American national," according to the DOJ endorsement.

Among the additional documents presented were the baptismal certificate of Lucia R. Padua, certificate of registration as a voter of Lucia P. Menk, certificate of non-availability of Menk’s maternal grandfather Eutemio Algario and joint affidavit of relatives Aurea G. Tanauan, Demetria Algario and Ponciano Algario.

This development cleared the way for the re-entry of Menk in the PBA although he will still have to wait for the third conference to be able to don the Tanduay jersey again. The PBA Commissioner’s Office said deadline of changes in the lineups of players in the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup was the end of the elimination round.

At presstime, Tanduay officials were drafting a letter, appealing to the Commissioner’s Office that Menk be allowed to play in their crucial game versus the Purefoods Hotdogs today at the Philsports Arena.

Menk personally delivered the DOJ document to the Commissioner’s Office at noon yesterday. He said: "I’m glad I finally have proof of my Filipino citizenship. I would like to play for my team tomorrow (today) but all I can do is root for it. I have to follow the rules."

The DOJ’s affirmation of Menk’s citizenship drew positive reaction from the PBA community.

"We’re glad that Eric has obtained his papers from the DOJ. Though it’s unfortunate that he wouldn’t be able to play tomorrow (today), we are sure that the league, Tanduay and Menk himself can look at the future with optimism," said acting PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios.

"Eric Menk’s return is a big boost to the team. He will definitely be a big help because we’ll now be having a legitimate inside threat," said Tanduay coach Derrick Pumaren.

"We’re appealing to the PBA to let Eric play in our game against Purefoods. We’ll wait and hope that our appeal be granted. But whatever happens, the team is happy that Eric finally got the affirmation we long sought," he added. (With report from Joey Villar)