Fighting for principles

Put yourself in the shoes of SBP chairman Gov. Oscar Moreno or SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan. For the past two years, the SBP has painstakingly tried to restore the Philippines’ place of prominence in Asian, if not global, basketball. Pangilinan, more than anyone else, has sacrificed executive time and personal resources to do a job that appears thankless but because of his love for the game, he persevered.

Because Moreno and Pangilinan are professionals with a reputation of doing good and doing well, they go about their business making sure that whatever they do is rightful, efficiently done and lawful.

Every step of the way, the SBP has touched base with FIBA, the international federation governing the sport, and sought to establish a relationship built on trust, faith and mutual respect.

In May last year, the SBP was given a fitting bill of health and a vote of confidence by FIBA which in a letter, declared its full support of the new NSA (replacing the BAP), wrote off the BAP “as it has no rights with FIBA” and dismissed BAP secretary-general Graham Lim as a member of the FIBA Youth Commission because of his “unacceptable continuous actions to disrupt the proper functioning of the BAP-SBP (the new NSA).”

Under terms of the so-called Bangkok Agreement, which FIBA facilitated to forge a peaceful settlement to the squabbling that has plagued Philippine basketball for years, the new NSA would be called BAP-SBP.

But two weeks after a National Congress was held on June 12 last year to decide who would lead the new NSA, a group of disgruntled BAP officials went back-door and incorporated their own version of a BAP-SBP with themselves as trustees. The same officials also challenged the legality of the National Congress and went to court to express their dissent.

Moreover, the same BAP officials held their own National Congress and their own version of elections. They went to the extent of appealing for the nullification of the NSA elections where Pangilinan was voted president.

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The BAP’s blatant act of treachery is an indication of how the discredited organization conducts its affairs – with no regard for fair play and the rule of law. In a ruling, the courts affirmed that of the 19 accredited or validated active, voting members of the SBP, 17 attended the National Congress of June 12 and confirmed the legitimacy of the elections.

In contrast, only six accredited active SBP members attended the “other” or BAP meeting and seven organizations were not recognized by the SBP.

What this all means is the BAP has no real base of support and the BAP officials left out in the cold are desperately trying to regain their positions of authority without legal or moral justification.

Why they so badly want to stay in power is a mystery. From the BAP’s record of disasters and fiascos, they certainly don’t deserve another term in office.

To portray a scenario of disunity within the SBP ranks, the BAP has made it a habit to bombard FIBA with black propaganda reports of discord. The BAP claims a mass following but the running joke in impartial local basketball circles is that it’s all a big joke. The BAP recently held an Asian University competition with a handful of virtually unknown Filipino entries and a single Korean school. None of the Filipino entries plays in a major collegiate league.

Because of some BAP officials’ long-standing personal relations with the dinosaurs of FIBA-Asia, they recently managed to convince FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann to revisit the Philippine situation. Baumann has formed a special commission in response to “continuous complaints addressed to the FIBA secretariat over the past months on the matter related to the institutional legitimacy of the Philippine basketball federation and its current leadership.”

There was no explanation as to what the “complaints” were but an indication of things to come was evident with Baumann’s surprising reinstatement of Lim as a member of the FIBA Youth Commission.

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Since its inception, the SBP has made remarkable headway in bringing Philippine basketball back on track in terms of referees programs, coaches programs, youth and grassroots programs, the national teams and membership programs. The record of performance more than speaks for itself.

So it’s totally understandable why after working tirelessly to put Philippine basketball back in place, the SBP is stunned by FIBA’s apparent change of heart. The BAP labelled as “panicky” the SBP’s reaction and refusal to submit to the jurisdiction of the special commission without being informed of the complaints and terms of reference of the “investigation.” But can you blame the SBP? After all, it has done no wrong and the villains in this war between good and evil seem to have found FIBA’s ear.

To state its position clearly, the SBP wrote FIBA an 11-page letter and took out full-page ads in newspapers. That’s how convinced the SBP is of the rightfulness and lawfulness of its position. If it had something to hide or if its position were shaky, the SBP wouldn’t expose or compromise itself by issuing an 11-page letter to FIBA and explaining its side in full-page ads. The SBP, in fact, showed its respect for FIBA by writing the letter without holding back and without trying to lick ass.

What the BAP officials are doing is detrimental and counter-productive to Philippine basketball. They’ve introduced the sordid side of politics in a battle for turf to protect selfish interests.

FIBA must realize who are the bad guys in this story. It shouldn’t go against what is rightful and what is legal. The SBP has nothing against FIBA and in fact, has taken major steps in trying to cement relations with the governing body.

Treachery has no part in sports or in life itself. The SBP’s transparency is beyond doubt. Its back may be marked by stab wounds but it can hold its head high, with a clear conscience. The SBP has never resorted and will never resort to treachery because that’s just not in the spirit of fair play.