Source: 36 POC members want BAP suspended

With five days left before judgment day, the Philippine Olympic Committee seems to be gaining more ground in its move to suspend the Basketball Association of the Philippines.

A member of the POC board yesterday said on condition of anonymity that 36 of the 39 voting members in the Olympic body will vote for the BAP suspension when the General Assembly convenes on Wednesday.

Jose "Peping" Cojuangco, the POC president, has recommended the immediate and indefinite suspension of the BAP for its failure "to keep its word" on the formation of the RP team to the SEABA Championship in Singapore next month and the SEA Games here in Manila in November.

"I appeal to our basketball loving countrymen to support the POC in this undertaking... The recommendation I will push for is fair and the BAP must not nurture fears because it will be judged by a jury of its peers — the General Assembly," said Cojuangco last Tuesday.

Bur for his recommendation to push through, it would need a two-thirds vote or 26 votes in the General Assembly. If indeed there are already 36 votes against the BAP, only two more is needed for an "undisputed verdict."

The source, a high-ranking official of the POC, said he sees no problem in getting the numbers that would indefinitely cut the BAP’s ties with the POC and therefore lose all the privileges of a regular member.

"It is clear to them (BAP) that this recommendation was purely based on very legitimate arguments and the penalty sought fits the violation," he said.

The BAP, being by its president Tiny Literal and secretary-general Graham Lim, had previously agreed to the formation of an RP team made up of PBA, PBL, UAAP and NCAA players.

But at the last minute, the BAP made a complete turnaround, insisting that it is the only group that can form the team, much less name the players and the coach, Boyzie Zamar being their choice.

Boni Alentajan, the volative BAP legal counsel, reportedly met with Cojuangco at the latter’s Makati residence the other night.

Alentajan recently came out with a statement accusing Cojuangco of being a "power-grabber" but was quick to deny it, saying the media has been inaccurate in its reports and that it’s been putting words into his mouth.

What came out of Thursday’s meeting, brokered by Ilococ Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, is being kept under wraps.