MANILA, 4 July 2003 — It’s inevitable. The contract dispute between Bong Hawkins and his team, the Federal Express, is now in the hands of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) board of governors.
FedEx elevated the Hawkins’ case to the board as the appealed for the reversal of the PBA Commissioner’s Office decision, ordering them to honor an obligation to Hawkins for the next two years although the player is no longer playing.
With the case now on the the lap of the governors, they are likely to consult their respective legal counsels before deciding on the case. A two-thirds vote of the board - seven in this case minus the votes of FedEx and two of four SMC ball clubs - is needed for a verdict.
If the board’s decision would not swing in favor of Federal Express, team officials vowed to raise the dispute to the courts.
“Our lawyers are saying we have a good case. We have legal basis on this,” said FedEx board representative Lito Alvarez.
However, a league insider said FedEx would be meted with a stiff sanction if it decides to bring the case out of the PBA confines.
The Hawkins’ case stemmed from two different contracts he got from Tanduay and was subsequently inherited by FedEx.
The veteran forward had earlier said he’s willing to wait a bit longer for a settlement he hopes would be amicable to everybody concerned.
Hawkins said he will not go to the legal courts to make FedEx pay what he and the PBA say is rightfully his. Instead, he would wait and see what the PBA board’s decision would be to an upcoming appeal by Express management.
PBA Commissioner Noli Eala had ordered FedEx to honor Hawkins’ contract with his former team Tanduay which guarantees the veteran cager a 400,000 monthly pesos salary. Eala ordered FedEx to pay Hawkins the remainder of his 13.8 million pesos contract the Express inherited when it bought the Tanduay franchise last year. The pact runs out this year. FedEx had insisted that it simply would not be fair for them to renumerate the former Tanduay Rhum Master.
“It wouldn’t be fair to pay Hawkins another 9.6 million pesos for the next two years, even though the Federal Express quintet has paid the latter (Hawkins) more than 4 million pesos the past season,” said Airfreight 2100 chairman Bert Lina.
The FedEx alternate board governor said that the best they could offer to the 11-year PBA pro is just half of the 13.8 million pesos total package from his original four-year pact the Express assumed from Tanduay. Since FedEx already shelled out 4.2 million pesos last season, the Express are willing to release an additional 2.7 million pesos this year.
Reports have it that Tanduay offered two contracts to Hawkins with the first deal good for four years while the other has an exit clause after two years wherein Hawkins would be forced to renegotiate with Tanduay. Citing some problems on the first contract, the Express opted to honor the second covenant, triggering a dispute that led to the decision of the Commissioner’s Office.
Despite the impasse, Lina remained optimistic that “there remains a light at the end of the tunnel.”
FedEx has already paid Hawkins 4.2 million pesos, but is only willing to shell out only 2.7 million pesos more. That forced Eala, who came in only this year, to step in and base his decision on a ruling made by acting Commissioner Sonny Barrios last year. The 6-foot-3 Hawkins has not seen action for FedEx since the latter declined to honor a side contract the player signed with his former team.
The side contract stipulates a four-year deal but with a clause that states either party has the option to renegotiate after 2002.
Eala remained firm that just in case the board of governors upholds his decision, Airfreight 2100 has no other recourse but to comply with it.
Eala upheld the decision of former PBA Commissioner Jun Bernardino and ruled in favor of Hawkins, obliging the Express to pay Hawkins at least 400,000 pesos a month until the end of the 2004 season. Eala said the decision to favor Hawkins over FedEx “is a league commitment to all its players.”
He also warned of huge fines facing FedEx in the case the two-year-old team make good its threat to bring the Hawkins’ case to court.
“I advise them (FedEx), I urge them not to do that. The Commissioner’s Office won’t like that and I’m sure the PBA board won’t like that, either,î said Eala. “Fines? Yes, I believe they will get that in case they decide to resort to legal means in disputing our decision in favor of Hawkins. I should remind them of the huge fines meted by my predecessor on Tanduay for hauling the league to court.”
