MANILA, 26 September 2003 — Controversial Paul Asi Taulava can heave a sigh of relief — for now.
The 6-foot-9 Talk ‘N’ Text slotman got a reprieve in a bid to keep the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Immigration from canceling his Filipino citizenship following an injunction issued by a Manila court.
Taulava is one of at least five players in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) who is being recommended by the Senate for deportation following allegedly fraudalent citizenship papers.
In a five-page order for injunction and/or prohibition issued by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 34, Judge Romulo Lopez ordered the BI and the DoJ to suspend or refrain from immediately canceling Taulava’s identification certificate No. 019150 and from immediately instituting deportation proceedings against the Fil-foreign player until all parties have been heard and have submitted their respective evidence.
Taulava also posted a bond of 1 million pesos as assurance to pay respondents DoJ and BI whatever damage they may sustain if the Manila RTC finally determines that Taulava is not entitled to such relief.
In his civil case, Taulava claimed that the two departments are “threatening, attempting to do, procuring or suffering, some acts of violations to his rights and will cause injustice and prejudice to his person.”
Taulava’s lawyers said they can prove that Taulava is a Filipino-Tongan whose parents are natural-born citizens of the Philippines.
Meanwhile, lawyers for the players union — the Professional Players Basketball Association (PPBA) — said the BI is capable of initiating summary deportation proceedings. But the BI opted to wait for the DoJ’s revocation of certificates of recognition before the proceedings.
Actually, the PPBA could file a case but will wait for the results of DoJ and BI’s evaluation of the Senate report of fake Fil-foreign players.
It can be recalled that Taulava was already deported in 2000 but managed to come back and play again for the Phone Pals, whom he piloted to an All-Filipino title while winning Best Player of the Conference honors.
The PBA earlier said it will abide by the government agencies’ decision should the DoJ and BI validate the Senate report.
The Senate committee has concluded that at least five mainstays in the PBA, who formally claimed Filipino lineage, have no roots in the Philippines.
Aside from Taulava, the Senate committee named the players whose documentation as half-Filipino was dubious as Jon Ordonio and Ali Peek of Alaska, Dorian Pe?a of San Miguel Beer, and Rudolf Hatfield of Coca-Cola.
The committee made an investigation and visited the place of birth of people that these players have claimed to be their relatives but could not find their birth, baptismal, residential “and even death certificates.”
The committee wrapped up evidence and pieces of information already divulged against some dubious Fil-Ams in previous hearings. Barbers said the “Fil-shams” failed to satisfy his series of questions regarding their true bloodlines.
According to Barbers, the committee, which also included Senators John Osme?a and Robert Jaworski, will need at least two weeks to finalize its findings before submitting a final report to the plenary.
The committee will then meet to decide on the recommendations it would make in the final report.
But Barbers admitted that the Committee can do no more than to make recommendations on the issue. Asked if the body would recommend the prosecution of the Fil-Ams, Barbers said: “I would say a few of them, based on the documents in our possession.” A most likely course of action is for the Senate Committee to turn over its findings to the PBA Players Association which would be tasked to file the necessary charges in court.
Other alleged “Fil-shams” who have been grilled by the Senate Committee include Eric Menk, Rob Duat, Nic Belasco, Andy Seigle, Rafi Reavis and John Arigo, among others.
The findings mostly unearthed questionable entries on the documents the Fil-foreign players submitted to the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation and the Department of Justice to back up their claim to Filipino citizenship.
The “Fil-shams” presented little evidence, if none at all, to rebutt Barbers’ findings pointing to them as “fake.”
A highlight of the final hearing was the admission of Yuri del Valle, municipal civil registrar of the town of San Jose in Northern Samar province, that he helped fix the papers of Taulava upon the request of Don Raymundo “Boy” Daza, brother of former Samar congressman and now Gov. Raul Daza. Del Valle admitted he violated National Statistics Office policy when he certified that his registrar had records of the birth and death certificates of Taulava’s s grandmother “when in fact there were none.” Del Valle said he did what he did because Daza was related to the former congressman and now governor of Samar.
But Governor Daza denied allegations he and his brother helped fix the papers of Taulava to make it appear that the PBA star has Filipino lineage.
Daza insisted that Taulava, together with those of other PBA mainstays, has relatives in Samar. Daza said del Valle was lying when he claimed that Taulava had no descendants in the province.
He said the revelations made by Del Valle were politically motivated.
But Daza failed to mention who could have influenced Del Valle to make such claim.
Barbers also said in the hearing that a check made by his committee showed that the Hernandez clan of Samar, to which Taulava said he was also related, had denied such kinship. Barbers said his committee could not find papers of the grandmother of Taulava in Northern Samar; the grandparents of Ordo?o in La Union province; Peek’s grandfather in Makati; Pe?a’s grandfather in Negros Occidental province and Hatfield’s grandfather in La Union.
