MANILA, 21 February 2003 — Thanks but no thanks.
This seems to be the message of the Professional Players’ Basketball Association (PPBA) spokesman to the Senate committee on games, amusements and sports which ordered the summary deportation of five fake Filipino-American cagers.
Sen. Robert Barbers, chairman of the Senate committee on games, amusements and sports, ordered the Bureau of Immigration to start summary deportation proceedings on five “Fil-shams” playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) after they failed to satisfy the requirements set by the immigration body.
Recommended by Barbers to be deported were Purefoods slotman Andrew John Seigle, San Miguel Beer’s Nicholas Belasco, Alaska Aces’ forward Robert Duat, Shell Velocity’s Michael Hrabak and Barangay Ginebra’s James Wallkvist. They all failed to show the necessary documents needed to be cleared.
But Jojo Lastimosa, spokesman of the PPBA, refused to sign his name on the request for the summary deportation of the Fil-shams.
Purefoods team captain and union co-spokesman Alvin Patrimonio, Zaldy Realubit and Bonel Balingit, however, signed the deportation request.
Lastimosa claimed those Fil-shams “were the wrong guys.”
He even expressed regrets over the outcome of the probe revived by Barbers.
The five alleged Fil-shams were found to be lacking in necessary documents to prove their citizenship although Lastimosa said it is common knowledge within the league these players have genuine Filipino lineage and that only time is needed before they could produce their papers.
Likewise, Lastimosa, the 1988 Rookie of the Year, claimed he has other names in mind. In fact, he said, the union submitted names to Barbers’ committee as possible fake Filipinos playing in the pro league.
He said there are “bigger fishes” whom they wanted expelled as they are taking away slots which should be meant to local-bred players.
Lastimosa pointed out the player union’s stand that they are not against the entry of Fil-foreign players in the PBA, but they are against the presence of fake half-breed cagers.
He even came to the defense of the five players, saying: “I know these guys, they are Filipinos. Another thing, Rob, according to Joaqui (Trillo, Alaska team manager), has already secured himself his ID.”
Lastimosa said he is optimistic that Barbers would make good his and his panel’s promise of expediting the investigation in order to weed the pro league of fake Fil-foreign players.
The 6’8” Seigle has a Philippine passport but didn’t have a Department of Justice affirmation and Bureau of Investigation identification certificate.
The rest doesn’t have ID certificates from the Immigration Bureau.
Belasco has been in the country since 1996, the year he was drafted and signed up by the now defunct Pop Cola franchise. Seigle, on the other hand, has been in the PBA since 1997, when he was declared the top rookie pick overall in the draft by Mobiline.
Hrabak was drafted and signed by Shell Velocity in the 2001 season, while Duat and Wallkvist also joined the PBA in 2000 after playing for Cebu Gems and San Juan Knights in the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA).
With the Senate investigation yet to be concluded, there is still a possibility that more Fil-foreign players will be facing deportation even as the PBA season opens on Feb. 23.
The investigation, according to Barbers, will be over by the first week of March at the latest.
Meanwhile, there were reports that PBA Commissioner Noli Eala is planning to present to the Board of Governors a proposal to limit the number of Fil-foreign players in each team, to guarantee that only the best of the best are taken in.
PBA insiders claimed Eala wants to limit the number of Fil-Ams per team to three or four each. If a certain team has signed up the maximum number of Fil-Ams, it can no longer draft another, according to the source.
Lastimosa confirmed that there were steps to be taken by the league that would ensure local players of jobs in the near future.
Only the PBA board and Eala’s confirmation are needed before limiting the entry of Fil-foreign players into the PBA.
Lastimosa, who finally hanged up his jersey this year, said his meeting with Eala recently “was very fruitful.”
The players union is pushing for the PBA to limit the participation of foreign-bred Filipinos in the premier league.
Union members were ecstatic over the PBA plan.
According to Lastimosa, Eala agreed in principle to limit the entry of Fil-foreign players in the league.
The agreement, Lastimosa said, would be on top of other new rulings imposed by Eala since taking over as league commissioner early this year vice Jun Bernardino.
Limiting the number of Fil-Ams per player may open the door to some more locally-bred cagers bidding to play in the PBA.
So far, only two teams, Sta. Lucia and FedEx, have no Fil-Ams in their lineups. Others, like Alaska, Talk ‘N’ Text and Ginebra, are backstopped by Fil-foreign players.
Among the 10 league members, Alaska boasts of the most Fil-foreign players with nine while Ginebra and Talk ‘N’ Text have at least three each.
The Aces’ lineup include Fil-Ams Don Carlos Allado, Ali Peek, John Arigo, Miguel Noble, Jon Ordonio and Robert Duat and draftees Mike Cortez, Brandon Lee Cablay and Eugene Tejada.
The Gin Kings boast a roster that includes Mark Caguioa, Eric Menk, Rob Johnson and Alex Crisano while Fil-Tongan Asi Taulava and Fil-Ams Harvey Carey and William Kahi Villa bolster the Phone Pals.
Some teams, however, may consider adopting Eala’s plan since this augurs well with the tough times.
The PBA Rookie Draft last month saw a big number of Fil-foreign aspirants with a record 25 applying for inclusion. All but four made it to the final list of candidates but only a handful were signed.
This year’s batch of Fil-Am rookies passed through a tight screening conducted by no less than Eala to ensure that no fake Fil-foreign players would be able to enter the Annual Rookie Draft.
After the recent rookie draft, Eala immediately imposed a residency requirement on foreign-bred Filipinos wanting to make it to the premier league, aside from requiring them to play in any of the country’s amateur leagues before turning professionals.
The Philippine Basketball League (PBL), the main beneficiary of the new PBA rulings, welcomed Eala’s move while the country’s two leading collegiate leagues — the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and the National Collegiate Athletic Association — would also benefit from the PBA decision.
