NCAA upholds Enrile suspension

Letran will be missing the services of ace gunner Ronjay Enrile in Game One of its semifinal duel with Philippine Christian University as the NCAA Management Committee upheld commissioner Ricky Palou’s recommendation to suspend the player for his unsportsmanlike act in their recent game.

"The Mancom upholds recommendations of the league commissioner on all sanctions, including the suspension on Ronjay Enrile," said Mancom chair Mike del Mundo of host Perpetual.

Enrile, who has served a one-game suspension for spitting at Perpetual Help’s Dom Javier, drew the same sanction for choking San Sebastian’s Leo Najorda in their game Friday.

Letran coach Louie Alas said they will abide by the decision since he was told by Fr. Edwin Lao, OP, rector of the Dominican-run school, that they will not make a big issue out of Enrile’s suspension.

"We will respect the decision," Alas told The STAR after arriving late Sunday from a team building session with the Knights in Unisan, Quezon.

The decision by Letran to abide by the Mancom decision was in contrast to its earlier stands on suspensions incurred by its players.

Letran appealed the case of Enrile in his first suspension. Then the team went to the extent of seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the league from enforcing a suspension on Frederick Rodriguez.

Aside from Enrile, other players suspended for a game were Perpetual Help’s Vladimir Joe and Mapua’s Erwin Sta. Maria.

Sta. Maria hit Joe in the groin in their match won by the Altas, 71-63, last week with the latter retaliating by throwing a punch.

Perpetual Help mentor Arturo "Bai" Cristobal, who was himself suspended early in the season, appealed Joe’s suspension but withdrew later after long deliberations by Mancom members.

Sta. Maria will not see action when Mapua clashes with San Beda in a knockout duel for the last Final Four berth tomorrow at the Araneta Coliseum.

Joe, for his part, serves his on Friday when the Altas, who topped the elimination round, play the winner of the San Beda-Mapua showdown, needing a triumph to barge into the best-of-three finals.