Marcial doubts Pinoy restrictions in Japan

MANILA, Philippines — PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said yesterday he doubts if there can be government restrictions on Filipino players leaving the country to see action overseas, particularly in Japan where nine cagers are signed to B.League contracts this season. The PBA Board of Governors and Marcial are now in Tokyo and will meet B.League officials in a social visit this afternoon.

Marcial left for Tokyo last Thursday and the Board the next day. The PBA delegation will be back in Manila on Sunday. Welcoming the PBA visitors to the B.League office is chairman Shinji Shimada who was in Manila for the EASL draw last June. It’s likely that Marcial will also meet one or two Filipino players in the B.League. There will be no formal discussions with the B.League as Marcial said it is strictly a “meet and greet.” “Ang bisita ng PBA ay to develop relationship and friendship,” he said. “Ongoing naman ang talks namin with B.League officials. Getting to know you lang ang pagbisita namin. Wala kaming pag-uusapan na policy.”

The get-together in Tokyo was organized by Converge to celebrate its entry into the PBA. No formal PBA Board meeting will be convened although Marcial said he hopes to confer with the Governors on a few pending issues. The Filipinos in D-1 B.League teams are Dwight Ramos (Hokkaido), Bobby Ray Parks (Nagoya), Matthew Wright (Kyoto), Justine Baltazar (Hiroshima), Kiefer Ravena (Shiga), Thirdy Ravena (San-En), Jay Washington (Ryukyu), Matthew Aquino (Shinshu) and Jordan Heading (Nagasaki) while the D-2 players are Greg Slaughter (Fukuoka), Roosevelt Adams (Kagawa) and Kobe Paras (Chiba). The next B.League season opens Sept. 29 with 24 D-1 and 14 D-2 teams. Each B.League team is allowed to recruit three foreign players, two to play at a time, plus a naturalized citizen or an Asian import.

During a recent Senate session, some senators thought of legislating OFW restrictions on players going abroad like prohibiting collegians from being poached or putting a minimum limit of years in the PBA before allowed to sign overseas contracts like nurses on government scholarships. But it was pointed out that it’s the constitutional right of every citizen to engage in a contract unless he or she is restrained by a legality or an existing contract. Clearances from Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and Games and Amusements Board (GAB) are necessary for pros to sign contracts abroad but a college player has no contract with a club, meaning no requirement for SBP approval, and isn’t a pro so no ties with GAB.