Road to reforms paved by summit

Close to 50 representatives of nearly every major basketball league or association in the country declared the first-ever cage summit a significant step to unite the hoop community and an opportunity to build for the future at the Pearl Manila Hotel last weekend.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose Cojuangco, Jr., POC secretary-general Steve Hontiveros and POC legal counsel Emigdio Tanjuatco, Jr. attended the seven-hour summit organized by the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), the Philippine Basketball League (PBL), the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to galvanize stakeholders in the campaign for reforms.

PBA commissioner Noli Eala said the summit posed three key questions before the participants—what ails Philippine basketball, what are the possible solutions and how to solve the problems.

Lack of communication, lack of leadership and lack of sustainable programs were identified as the problems with the solutions as collaboration among the stakeholders, a voice or representation in the National Sports Association and the election of a visionary leadership.

Eala said regardless of whether or not the Federation Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) lifts the country’s suspension, the stakeholders are determined to continue the momentum of the summit, plan out programs, synchronize competition schedules, form strategic training programs, develop a feeder system for the elite level and reach out to other groups, including the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP), to solidify the foundations of a unified cage community.

A second summit will be held on June 17-18 to concretize the stakeholders’ plan of action. A committee made up of representatives of the PBA, PBL, UAAP and NCAA and Danny Soria of Baguio-Benguet, Boy Cabahug of Cebu and Pedro Alfaro of Zamboanga was authorized to plan for the next summit.

A highlight of the summit was the presentation of the elite program leading to participating in the 2008 Beijing Olympics by national team assistant coach Aboy Castro, representing coach Chot Reyes who was out of town. Castro said the national squad will play in the Jones Cup in Taipei and the Sultan’s Cup in Brunei this year.

For his part, Eala spoke about the Canadian national basketball development 2020 program as a model that may be applied to the Philippines. He described it as a mirror of what the country needs to develop its own development program. A strategic planning task force will be formed to study the Canadian model and submit recommendations for local application to the stakeholders at the second summit.

A resolution was drafted at the end of the summit and will be presented to the stakeholders for approval. The resolution noted that the stakeholders are one in their effort to unify the sport, undertake fundamental changes in the basketball infrastructure and leadership and implement a comprehensive basketball program that will carry the Philippines to its objective of regaining its lofty status in Asia.

The resolution also stated that the stakeholders are endorsing the membership of Pilipinas Basketball in the POC and FIBA and urging FIBA to immediately lift the country’s suspension and allow the national team to participate in all FIBA-sanctioned international tournaments. A copy of the resolution, once ratified, will be furnished FIBA and the International Olympic Committee.

Among the other stakeholders in the summit were the Baguio-Benguet Basketball Association, the Tarlac group, the NOPCEA of Negros Occidental, the CESAFI of Cebu, El Federaction Basketbolista de Zamboanga, the NAASCU, the CUSA, the NCRAA, the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines (BCAP) and the NCAA South.

Mikee Romero of PBL club Harbour Centre, Teletech coach Jerry Codiñera, Philippine Basketball Federation president Moying Martelino and BCAP’s Tanny Gonzalez also attended the affair which Eala said, cannot be ignored by FIBA as a show of force by stakeholders in projecting the ‘real group’ to recognize as country affiliate.