MANILA, 16 May 2003 — A fifth straight drug scandal has rocked the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) again after Talk ‘N’ Text reserve forward Norman Gonzales failed a random drug test this season.
So alarmed was PBA Commissioner Noli Eala over the drug mess that he called for desperate measures to curb the menace during the league’s board meeting.
“It saddens us that another player was caught using illegal drug. But it’s gratifying to note that the PBA campaign against illegal drug use is bearing fruit,” said Eala. “We don’t wish anybody to be in this predicament but the PBA will not stop from pushing our campaign to make sure we keep our players’ image as good role models to the youth.”
Although Eala had earlier maintained the random drug testing on players had been serving its purpose, the third straight serious drug case announced in 10 days’ time left the 28-year-old league with no recourse but to go for a total check on all its active cagers. Indeed, the latest findings on Gonzales served to reinforce the feeling that the drug problem in the pro league has reached alarming proportions.
Eala, appearing before the Senate Committee on Games and Sports, said he has already drafted a proposal that all the league players be made to submit to a drug test on a per team basis this season, on dates to be randomly announced by the league.
The process would run simultaneously with the random testing done on eight players, at two per team, during regular PBA playdates. Eala said he is dead serious in the league’s anti-drug campaign.
“The one-time mandatory drug test would be done league-wide, involving all players and which won’t be announced. This would serve as our report card to the public, informing them that we are serious in our anti-drug campaign in the league,” he pointed out.
The Senate announced also it will conduct an inquiry to determine the extent of the drug problem in the professional league.
Chaired by Senator Robert Barbers, the Senate committee on youth and sports has called for a probe to shed light on the drug mess. Barbers, noting the extent of the PBA’s influence on the youth, said they are initiating the probe on May 5.
With drug cases coming up from all over and going straight at the league, the PBA is hard-pressed to make a mandatory drug check on all its 120 or more players.
But Eala shrugged off insinuations drug syndicates might be at work within the league. “To say there is a drug syndicate, I don’t think so,” he said.
“I think the process we are using has proved effective, it has been working,” said Eala. “In fact, we’ve intensified the drug test that will increase the number of random players whose urine will be checked each playing day from four to eight.”
Eala admitted the random drug test on PBA players was reintroduced only during the final conference last year.
Eala did admit he had carefully studied the suggestion of a total drug test but added he would resort to it only if what they are doing now fails to address the problem.
He said the PBA will come out with a detailed anti-drug policy to be based on that of the United States’ National Basketball Association. The PBA, through the help of the Department of Health, is currently testing only four of the eight specimens taken from players each playing day. ‘
And to show that the league is serious and fair in its anti-drug campaign, all PBA officials will undergo drug testing next week ? starting with Eala. Eala said the decision was in line with efforts to make the commissioner’s office come clean once it seriously starts cracking down on drug offenders in the league.
The drug test will cover just about everybody in the league, including the 35 members of the Office of the Commissioner and 50 referees, table officials, statisticians, ushers and usherettes.
The massive testing will usher in the mandatory drug check on all players which will be done on a per-team basis.
“So that nobody will accuse us of being unfair when we subject everybody in the league to drug testing, I will undergo the test myself along with my staff,” said Eala.
In his latest ? and harshest ? measure to rid the PBA of the drug menace, Eala said that any employee found to have used prohibited drugs would be summarily banished from the league.
“It is a cause for disciplinary action from preventive suspension to dismissal, subject of course to evaluation,” said Eala.
“We are doing something about this problem which is a reality in our society and is not inherent in the PBA,” said Eala. “This is our way of proving that we take care of our players, we take care of our league.”
Although he has vowed wider drug testing in the league, Eala maintained that the main weapon against the drug problem is proper education. The league has the support of the Philippine Olympic Committee, which joined its anti-drug drive as part of the global campaign against banned substance.
Gonzales played back-up role for Romel Adducul and Danny Ildefonso when the Philippine national team, coached by Dong Vergeire, competed in the 1997 Seaba championship in Singapore.
He failed to win a championship ring for San Beda in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and played for the Pampanga Dragons in the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA). Gonzales was drafted by Talk ‘N’ Text (formerly Mobiline) two years ago.
The 26-year-old Gonzales, a three-year pro who is enjoying his finest season in the PBA, tested positive for a banned substance in urine samples he submitted to the league last week. According to the PBA Commissioner’s Office, Gonzales was found positive for methamphitamine hydrochloride or shabu, a banned substance that help stimulate performance.
Ironically, that was the same day news broke out that Ginebra’s Alex Crisano, Gonzales’ former teammate at Talk ‘N’ Text, had tested positive, reportedly for shabu.
Gonzalez contested the results of the drug test, mentioning some flaws in the league’s implementation of the test.
He said the canisters being used to keep their urine samples are not properly marked before it is forwarded to the PBA and the designated laboratory.
Gonzalez, who has an expiring contract with Talk ‘N’ Text, said it was possible that the urine tests were switched — even unintentionally. The Talk ‘N’ Text player said he was totally surprised when he was informed that he failed the test since he said he doesn’t smoke, much more take drugs.
The 6-foot-3 former MBA standout joined Talk ‘N’ Text teammate Asi Taulava, San Miguel slotman Dorian Pe?a, Red Bull’s Jimwell Torion and Crisano in the growing list of drug-offenders this season, although Gonzales swore he doesn’t deserve to be in that group. Known for his rebounding and defensive skills, Gonzales — like Torion and Crisano — became the third player to be suspended indefinitely by the PBA — the harshest punishment the league has imposed on a player. He was also ordered to undergo a six-month rehabilitation program.
Taulava and Pe?a failed the mandatory drug test before the opening of the 2003 season. Both denied ever using banned drug substances, although the two Fil-foreign cagers were required to submit to drug tests before each game. Both Pe?a and Taulava were slapped two-game suspensions at the start of the season as penalty.
Torion and Crisano were sacked late last month for shabu use as revealed by the random drug test conducted by the Department of Health with the help of the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory. Taulava was earlier found positive for marijuana together with Pe?a. The PBA announced on April 25 that Torion had tested positive for shabu based on tests done on his urine sample after the Red Bull game in Cebu on April 13. Five days later, the PBA said the 6-foot-7 Crisano had also been found positive for the banned substance. Torion will be denied his 250,000-peso monthly income until he is exonerated by the league which will re-evaluate his case after the Asian Invitational in August.
