‘Drug rehab on Asi, Dorian not necessary’

The Philippine Basketball Association yesterday urged the Games and Amusements Board to reconsider its decision to order Asi Taulava and Dorian Peña to undergo a six-month rehabilitation program before their license could be reactivated by the government agency.

PBA commissioner Noli Eala said the league sanctions on Taulava and Peña were sufficient enough and a six-month rehab program is no longer necessary.

"It is our position that the sanctions meted by the PBA which include continuous drug testing and monitoring are sufficient safeguards to ensure strict compliance with the drug free goals which your office and ours have set," said Eala in a letter to GAB chairman Eduardo Villanueva yesterday.

"Moreover, considering that Resolution 03-06 was allegedly passed only last Feb. 27 or prior to the supposedly incidental or accidental use of the illegal substance by Taulava and Peña, said penalties should not be made applicable to them. It is a basic tenet that laws should be given prospective application and cannot be applied retroactively," added Eala.

Eala was reacting to The Star report on a resolution passed by the GAB board last Feb. 27, requiring Taulava and Peña to serve a two-game suspension, enrol and undergo a six-month rehab program and test negative of prohibited drugs to regain playing license.

Eala also wanted to be clarified on the matter concerning the requirement for Taulava and Peña to enrol and undergo a rehab program although the commissioner said he would allow the two players to return to action after serving their two-game suspension.

"As your own resolutions clearly admit, the said players have been cleared through subsequent and numerous drug tests. The negative results yielded by these subsequent drug tests presumably indicate that these two players are in no manner whatsoever drug dependents or habitual users of the illegal substance," said Eala.

"As medical experts have discussed with us, a positive finding in drug testing does not necessarily mean that a person is a habitual user or addicted to illegal drugs, and therefore, is in need of rehabilitation," Eala added.

Eala told The Star he was surprised at the timing of the resolution, saying: "Asi and Dorian tested positive on Feb. 17 and Jan. 29, respectively. They both tested negative on the subsequent tests. They (the GAB) should have made action on this case earlier. But they even issued license to the players."

Sources said GAB might have made the resolution to avoid being grilled on the issue during the budget hearing GAB officials attended at the Senate Tuesday.

At the same time, Eala questioned reports that GAB has given the PBA a deadline to pay its arrears or it would stop the operation of the professional cage league.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola broke away in the second period behind the hot hands of William Antonio and sustained the momentum with the team putting its act together in the second half, blasting Shell, 103-92, in the Samsung PBA All-Filipino Cup at the Philsports Arena last night.

The two teams engaged in a nip-and-tuck battle in the first 12 minutes of play before Antonio caught fire, going six-of-eight from the field and making 13 points in the second quarter as the Tigers seized a 58-44 lead at the half.

Lordy Tugade missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer, enabling San Miguel Beer to escape with a 93-90 victory over Red Bull in the second game.