PBA names Hall of Fame inductees

San Miguel Corp. chairman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., coaches Ron Jacobs and Dante Silverio, former league president Domingo Itchon, import Norman Black, two-time MVP Abet Guidaben, pioneer pros Manny Paner and Danny Florencio, writer Tony Siddayao and broadcaster Pinggoy Pengson were voted the other day to be inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame at the Araneta Coliseum on April 8.

A seven-man honors committee met at the PBA office in Libis to select the second batch of Hall of Famers from a list of 14 nominees submitted earlier by the selection committee.

The honors committee was made up of former PBA chairman Ely Capacio, PBA commissioner Noli Eala, PBA governor Joaquin Trillo, former PBA commissioner Jun Bernardino, Malaya sports editor Jimmy Cantor, TV sports producer Carlos (Bobong) Velez and broadcaster Emy Arcilla. Invited to attend the deliberations were PBA media bureau chief Willie Marcial, selection committee chairman Franz Pumaren, sportswriter Ronnie Nathanielsz and this writer.

At least four votes were required to assure a slot in the batch but the honors committee later allowed a second poll to take up appeals.

The 14 nominees got at least a vote each with Itchon, Jacobs and Black garnering five apiece. Receiving four votes were Cojuangco, Florencio, Guidaben, Silverio and Pengson.

An appeal was made for Siddayao and Paner who took in three votes each. In a second poll, they were chosen by acclamation to be added to the batch of inductees.

"The vote reflected the will of the group," said Eala. "The selection shows a good balance of four players, two coaches, a league official, two from media and a team owner who has given significant positive contribution to the growth of the PBA."

The four nominees who failed to make it to the final list were Freddie Hubalde, Ricardo Brown, Glenn McDonald and broadcaster Romy Kintanar.

"It’s honor enough to be nominated for induction," said Eala. "I’m sure those who didn’t make it this year will again be considered for the next batch."

The honors committee took over two hours to decide on the new inductees. One voter picked only four of the 14 nominees and none got a unanimous nod of seven ballots. Eala described the vote as "discerning and discriminating."

During the deliberations, the category of team owners was removed from the classification of league and team officials. The committee created a distinct category to give recognition and honor to men and women for significantly contributing to the PBA’s progress. The general category may include team owners, sponsors, patrons and fans.

Three of the inductees – Itchon, Siddayao and Pengson – will be enshrined on a posthumous basis. Itchon nurtured the PBA with founding commissioner Leo Prieto in its infancy and gained a reputation for his strong and fair leadership. Siddayao was considered the dean of sportswriters and played a major role in bringing the PBA into mainstream media. Pengson took the quality of sports broadcasting to a high level, injected professionalism in the PBA coverage and was credited for introducing the term "cardiac" in sports vocabulary to describe an exciting down-to-the-wire finish in games.

The induction ceremonies will be held in between the Air21 versus Talk ’N’ Text and Red Bull versus Barangay Ginebra games at the Big Dome on Easter Sunday.

The PBA instituted the Hall of Fame during its 30th anniversary rites two years ago. Enshrined in the first batch were Bogs Adornado, Francis Arnaiz, Philip Cezar, Atoy Co, Ramon Fernandez, Robert Jaworski, Baby Dalupan, Leo Prieto, Rudy Salud, Danny Floro, Emerson Coseteng and Joe Cantada.