MANILA, 29 November 2002 — Any news — whether good or bad — is still publicity. Yet, this one surely merits the Philippine Basketball Association’s attention and consideration.

A popular sportscaster who is considered one of the front-runners for the post of PBA commissioner is facing adultery charges due to an alleged illicit affair with a commercial model.

Lawyer Jose Emmanuel “Noli” Eala, married and a Viva Television sportscaster for the PBA Games, has been accused of adultery by the jilted husband of a woman he had allegedly impregnated.

Raps were filed recently before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office against Eala and 25-year-old Irene Moje Guevarra.

Guevarra’s spouse, Joselano Guevarra, claimed in a six-page complaint affidavit that Eala and his wife have had an affair even after their Oct. 7, 2000 wedding, which had the sportscaster as guest.

Irene left her husband April last year.

The complainant said Irene had given birth to a child last Feb. 14 and the baby’s father, he claims, was Eala who he said has his own family with three children.

Moje gave birth to a girl at the St. Luke’s Hospital and listed Eala as the child’s father.

The 39-year-old Eala, a graduate of law at Ateneo, is among those being considered for admittedly one of the most prestigious positions in sports, joining a list that included current executive director Sonny Barrios, BCAP president Chito Narvasa, former league deputy commissioner Tommy Manotoc, Coke coach Chot Reyes and banker Tito Panlilio.

PBA chairman Butch Alejo refused to comment on behalf of the board on the court case slapped on Eala and its impact on his bid for the league commissionership until he has heard the popular broadcaster’s side of the controversy.

Alejo said any comments at this time would be inappropriate.

“I don’t think it will be fair for me to talk about this at this time,” said Alejo, who is also president of Purefoods Corp. and its representative to the PBA board. “So far, what I’ve read is one side of the issue, and those are the charges filed against Mr. Eala. But I haven’t read or heard about Eala’s side, so I don’t think I can be in a good position to comment on this or its effect on the commissionership issue.”

Alejo said he hopes Eala, one of the men being considered to replace Commissioner Jun Bernardino when the latter retires at the end of the season, would talk to him or any member of the board in the coming days “to clear the air.”

“We’re waiting to hear Eala’s side. I hope we can talk. If not with me then it can be with other members of the board who are in touch with him,” he said. “Then maybe I can make my comments as the official spokesman of the board.”

Still, Alejo admitted the court case merits the board’s attention and consideration.

“It’s a concern, of course. Any news — whether good or bad — about the men in our list of candidates for commissioner is a concern,” he said.

The board — composed of representatives from the league’s 10 member teams — has spent months looking for Bernardino’s replacement, but has not come close to putting the decision to a vote.

Alejo had said the board will have to first ‘short-list’ the current group of candidates before putting the commissionership to a vote.

With the season about to come to a close, all the board has done on this issue was come up with a long and diverse list of candidates for the post.

It is still doubtful if the board is ready to wrap up the issue this month.

So it is also not known how the adultery case recently slapped on Eala would have an impact on his bid for the commissionership.

Eala, for his part, said that the published reports of adultery charges filed against him was part of a “massive” plan to take him off the list of candidates for the next PBA commissioner.

“The timing of this is suspicious. The problem suddenly surfaced as a public issue in the thick of the selection process for the next PBA commissioner,” said Eala. “I’m told... that there is an orchestrated effort to smear me.”

Eala maintained it was a purely private and personal matter, which, he claimed, the concerned parties have been trying to settle “agreeably” and “quietly.”

Eala said he was aware that Guevarra and Moje are busy fixing their annulment papers.

“I am also in the midst of fixing the annulment papers of my marriage,” he said.

So this is the reason why he was surprised to see it published.

“I refuse to believe that such an unsporting gesture could come into play in the PBA. Considering further that I did not personally seek the post being contested, this latest personal attack on me seems unthinkable,” said Eala.

He pointed to a four-page press release detailing the problem, which he claimed was distributed to media organizations “in such massive fashion.”

According to the complainant, Eala was introduced to him by his wife last January 2000 as “her friend.”

Guevarra claimed he started to have suspicions about his wife’s relationship with Eala only months after they got married on Oct. 7, 2000. Eala attended the wedding.

Guevarra said Eala gave his wife a love letter the former only discovered in their master’s bedroom shortly after his wife left him.

“I will love you for the rest of my life. You will always be mine and mine alone and I will always be yours and yours alone. Not even your piece of paper with the man you chose to walk down the aisle with will stop me from loving you forever,” read part of the letter which Eala apparently gave to Moje on her wedding day.

Before Irene left, Guevarra said his wife started to look fidgety and uneasy in January 2001.

Guevarra said that during the first quarter of 2001, Moje would frequently receive phone calls from Eala. Moje would often come home very late at night or would not come home at all.

“When I asked about her whereabouts, she usually explained that she slept at her parents’ house in Binangonan, Rizal, or that she was kept busy attending to clients and keeping appointments related to her work,” said Guevarra said. “With regard to Noli’s cell phone calls and text messages, Irene admitted that she was going out on dates with him.”

In March 2001, Guevarra said he caught the sportscaster and his wife together twice, the last of which the complainant failed to control his emotion and surprised the respondents.