Unity congress to elect SBP officers

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Noli Eala said the other day the officers of the Samahang Basketbol Ng Pilipinas (SBP) will be elected by the interim 25-man Board of Trustees during the unity congress at the Dusit Nikko Hotel on Feb. 5 with or without representation from the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP).

Invitations will be sent to the BAP officials to join the event but Eala said the staging of the first-ever unity congress does not hinge on their attendance.

An interim 25-man Board of Trustees was designated to serve until the regular election is conducted to synchronize with the Olympic calendar in 2008. The Board is composed of 12 representatives from the BAP, 12 from Pilipinas Basketball (PB) and Philippine Long Distance Tel. Co. chairman Manny Pangilinan.

At the congress, the interim Board will elect the SBP officers, namely, the chairman, vice-chairman, president, executive director, secretary and treasurer, and announce the composition of the executive, finance, nomination and membership and audit and ethics committees.

The stakeholders invited to attend the unity congress are considered probationary SBP members since the validation of their organizations will still be made by the nomination and membership committee.

Eala said in talks with former BAP president Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, it was agreed that members of the four standing committees will come mainly from the BAP ranks.

"The BAP will enjoy the majority of the membership in the committees," said Eala. "The chairmen, however, will come from both sides."

Eala said the Tokyo agreement stipulates that the BAP will be subsumed under the SBP.

"It’s up to the BAP if it will be collapsed," said Eala. "For its part, the PB will fold up but the BAP may choose to retain its personality even with the SBP already onstream."

The other day, Baumann phoned Eala from the FIBA headquarters in Geneva to ask for copies of the invitations the SBP is sending out to the country’s stakeholders.

According to Eala, FIBA is closely monitoring the compliance of the terms of the Tokyo communique.

"FIBA is encouraging us to pursue the congress as a very critical step in the unification process preparatory to the lifting of our suspension," said Eala.

Before the signing of the Tokyo accord, it seemed that FIBA opposed the POC’s expulsion of the BAP if only to assure national sports federations of the backing of the international federation in cases of dispute. FIBA later changed its position because of the Tokyo agreement.

Eala said if the BAP reneges on its commitment to abide by the Tokyo communique, then the problem becomes a matter for FIBA to resolve.

"Because of the Tokyo accord, this is no longer just a domestic problem," explained Eala. "If the BAP refuses to comply with the terms of the Tokyo agreement, then FIBA must decide once and for all what to do. The SBP will just abide by what is stipulated in the Tokyo accord as approved by FIBA."

The original members of the interim Board are Yayoy Alcoseba, Boni Alentajan, Pedro Alfaro, Rey Baula, Elmer Cabahug, Fr. Paul de Vera, Tony Fabico, Graham Lim, Joey Lina, Pangilinan and Daniel Soria from the geographical sector, Ely Capacio, Tony Chua, Eala, Ricky Vargas, Bernie Atienza, JunJun Capistrano, Fritz Gaston, Christian Tan and Wilson Young from the school-based sector, Lito Alvarez, Michel Lhuiller, and Chino Trinidad from the commercial sector and Tisha Abundo and Nic Jorge from the special sector.