MANILA, 31 January 2003 — The Pandora’s box that would expose alleged syndicates operating in local basketball will soon be opened.

The Senate committee on games, amusement and sports, chaired by Sen. Robert Barbers, is resuming its investigation on fake Fil-foreign players in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) that would once again put the pro league in the middle of a brewing storm.

The committee is set to complete the pieces of evidence that could lead to the deportation of fake Fil-foreign players, particularly Fil-Ams — or notoriously known as “Fil-shams”.

At least 26 Fil-foreign players have already submitted documents to prove their Filipino lineage to the Senate.

Barbers said players and even agents or officials, who are proved to have a hand in producing fraudulent documents, would be jailed.

The fake Fil-foreign player would either serve his term behind bars first if found to have violated the country’s immigration laws, before being deported to his point of origin regardless of their skill and popularity.

“Everybody is in unison in a call to weed out fraudulent Fil-Ams. We’re working on this based on a resolution by the players,” said Barbers. “So we will seek their immediate deportation or file criminal charges against them.” Barbers vowed to unmask fake Fil-foreign players, saying his committee will reveal the identities of at least five fake Fil-Americans in three weeks time.

Acting on a manifesto turned over to the Senate by a group of home-grown players forming the Professional Players’ Basketball Association (PPBA), Barbers revealed that he has in his possession incriminating evidence that would prove some Fil-foreign players had falsified documents to obtain Filipino citizenship. “I have already some documents to prove that some of these Fil-Ams submitted fraudulent documents,” said Barbers.

The committee has ordered the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) to submit at least three documents which it could use to determine the authenticity of the claims by 25 Fil-Ams playing in the PBA that they have Filipino blood in them.

According to Barbers, he has asked the BID “for a document that contains the names and addresses of the Fil-Ams’ parents, a document showing the date of naturalization from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the certification of the hearing officer which heard the Fil-Ams’ application for Filipino citizenship.” Barbers specifically requested for the birth certificates of the players and their parents, noting the possibility that these parents may have also faked their birth certificates to authenticate their son’s citizenship. He said: “It’s very easy to manufacture documents in this land. If diplomas can be faked, what more with birth certificates? We want to examine these documents more closely.” Under PBA rules, Fil-Am players need only to obtain a DOJ certification before they could be allowed to play.

Barbers said the issue concerning the influx of Fil-Ams in the PBA has been reopened on the strength of a manifesto submitted by the revived PBA players body, now led by league veterans Lastimosa and Alvin Patrimonio. Among other things, the manifesto, which bore the signatures of 103 PBA players, questioned why Asi Taulava, Eric Menk and Rudy Hatfield were able to return to the league after they were ordered deported by the BID along with Sonny Alvarado.

Lastimosa said Barbers had already gathered enough evidence against these Fil-shams and the committee will finalize their investigation after three hearings.

According to the 6-foot-2 former Alaska team captain, the PPBA submitted at least five names of Fil-shams playing in the professional league. “Obviously, people already know them (Fil-shams). And I’ll just let Senator Barbers do the announcement,” said the 39-year-old Lastimosa although he refused to reveal the names of the players suspected of committing fraud.

While the names of Fil-shams remain a mystery, some quarters are already floating the names of Talk ‘N’ Text’s Taulava, and Batang Red Bull’s frontline tandem of Davonn Harp and Pennisi as well as Coca-Cola Tigers’ Hatfield.

Lastimosa said he and his fellow players have no intention of driving out all the Fil-Ams from the league. “I have a lot of Fil-Am friends and hurting them will be the last thing I could think of. All we want is to know who are the legitimate Fil-Ams,” Lastimosa said.

Seven Fil-foreign players, who played for the Philippine national team that finished fourth in the Busan Asian Games last year, were issued Philippine passports.

They are Taulava, Coca-Cola’s Hatfield and Jeffrey Cariaso, Pennisi, Barangay Ginebra’s Eric Menk and Purefoods stars’ Andy Seigle and Noy Castillo.

Taulava, a Tongan national, was among the players deported by the BI in 2000 for their failure to complete documents establishing their Filipino bloodline. He was able to come back last year after completing his immigration documents.

During last December’s Senate hearing, Andy Seigle — the 6-foot-8 Purefoods’ prized center was also a member of the 1998 Philippine Centennial team that won the bronze medal in Bangkok, failed to show his Bureau of Immigration ID, raising doubts that someone may have fixed his papers.

Sen. John Osmeña is suspecting a group of syndicate-lawyers allegedly headed by the son of the Northern Samar governor being responsible for the recruitment of some of the suspected illegitimate Fil-foreign players notoriously known as “Fil-shams”.

These “Fil-shams”, he noted, are said to be having a hard time explaining their roots but are claiming origin in the Visayas region.

The Cebu solon said there is something “fishy” on an apparent pattern not only of the entry of these “Fil-shams” into the professional league, but also their family background. The syndicate, allegedly led by a certain Paul Daza, serves as “brokers” to fix certain documents on the players’ stay in the country.

“There seems to be a common link, the son of the governor of Samar,” said Osmeña.

Both Osmeña and Barbers hinted that there is something possibly anomalous over the players’ personal or family background as some of the Fil-Ams could not ascertain the location of their existing relatives in the country.