Appeal to UAAP Board

 Do you honestly think after what happened in the aftermath of the Ateneo-La Salle game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Sunday, Eagles coach Bo Perasol and Archer supporter Jonathan (JJ) Atayde will ever do what they did again? They’ve learned their lesson and expressed remorse. They’ve apologized so why penalize these first offenders without even hearing their side?

The UAAP Board has suspended Perasol one game and banned Atayde from watching games until the end of the season. Both Perasol and Atayde were never summoned by the Board. Shouldn’t they have been given the courtesy of defending themselves or at least airing their version of the incident? Where was due process?

Atayde said even before his suspension was announced, he volunteered to stay away from the games because his presence might just exacerbate an explosive and highly-emotional situation. He asked his cousin Henry to deliver his message of voluntary withdrawal to the UAAP Board. But just the same, the suspension was meted out.

“The UAAP Board sanctioned me for heckling coach Bo and shouting invectives,” said Atayde. “I regret what I did. I manned up to it. Honestly, I was shocked by coach Bo’s reaction. It was just part of the usual teasing in a La Salle-Ateneo game. I admit I told him thanks for the win, that’s all. I think I pushed the button at the wrong time. Maybe, coach Bo isn’t used to the teasing in a La Salle-Ateneo game. My daughter went to Ateneo and my brother-in-law Tony La Vina is an Ateneo dean. I took my mother-in-law, an Ateneo supporter, to watch the first Ateneo-La Salle game this season and she’s 81 in a wheelchair. My in-laws and I tease each other a lot because it’s only plain fun to us.”

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Atayde, a Liberal Arts-Commerce graduate from La Salle in 1985, has apologized to Perasol in public. “I’ve realized that teasing the coach after that painful loss to our team was uncalled for and for that, I humbly have extended my apologies to the parties concerned,” he said in a letter to La Salle president Br. Ricky Laguda published all over in social media.

Atayde denied claims by certain quarters that a water bottle was thrown at Perasol and the coach was spat at. “I can only speak for myself but I didn’t see any of that happening,” he said. “After what I told coach Bo, all hell broke loose. I should’ve been more sensitive to his feelings at that point and I regret what I did. Coach Bo and I are both Ilonggos. We don’t know each other personally but if I see him, I’ll be the first to extend my hand. I hope he accepts my apology.”

Atayde said he himself was victimized by hecklers during Ateneo’s dynasty five-peat years when La Salle took a back seat to the Eagles. He called it an unpleasant experience. “This incident has made me realize that in sporting activities, we must recognize that it is people who are involved and for that, we should be sensitive to the feelings and emotions of everybody,” he said.

Suspending Perasol for one game at this stage of the season has serious implications to Ateneo’s bid for a sixth straight championship. Regardless of that consideration, the suspension doesn’t seem to be commensurate to the transgression. It was Perasol’s first outburst and while widely publicized in media, he shouldn’t be made to pay for all the negative mileage. Instead of throwing the axe, shouldn’t the UAAP Board be more positive in its approach to diffuse the tension? Besides, the UAAP Board never even heard Perasol’s side of the matter.

Since Perasol and Atayde are regretful and promise to behave from now on, shouldn’t the UAAP Board be conciliatory and arrange for them to apologize to each other face to face in a show of understanding to set an example to supporters of their opposing schools? That approach would be more impactful than slapping suspensions which could only fan the fires of discord.

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Personally, I’ve known Perasol for years. I’ve followed his coaching career from the MBA to the PBA, from Air 21 to Powerade. He’s a good man, a good coach and a good friend. But he’s only human.

Last Sunday, he got ticked off by a remark from an overjoyed school supporter. It was bad enough that he lost. Now, here was someone rubbing salt on his wound. Perasol blacked out. He’ll never condone what he did or try to justify it. But as Atayde said, he hit a sensitive nerve and it triggered a flare-up. Perasol and Atayde have apologized to the schools they represent. They’ve suffered enough criticism from all sides and embarrassment, too.  Shouldn’t the UAAP Board give them a second chance?

If the UAAP Board could downgrade Charles Mammie’s suspension on a second appeal, why not lift the suspension on Perasol and the ban on Atayde as a gesture of reconciliation? There has been enough bad blood spilled. Shouldn’t it be time to mend hurt feelings? The UAAP Board has been under the gun lately by TROs casting doubt on the rightfulness of past decisions, including the controversial two-year residency rule. It has been chastised for issuing directives based on protecting vested interests. Here is an opportunity for the UAAP Board to rise above the suspicion of engaging in petty politics, horse-trading and retaliatory tactics. For once, the UAAP Board can do something positive in a Christian way – forgive Perasol and Atayde and lift their suspensions.