GILAS PILIPINAS the program will stay, but the composition of which is set to undergo a massive facelift.

After a disastrous seventh place finish — the country’s worst — in the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea earlier this month, the PBA and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas — the sport’s major stakeholders — have decided to come up with a selection committee that will ultimately determine the makeup of the team.

PBA commissioner Chito Salud bared this on Thursday night after reports of Chot Reyes being sacked as the head coach and that the Gilas Pilipinas team was disbanded came out and was feasted upon by all media entities in time for the 6 o’clock news.

Salud then came up with several statements that none of this was true and that the real development was the creation of the selection committee where Salud, SBP president Ricky Vargas, SBP executive director Sonny Barrios, PBA chair Patrick Gregorio and vice-chair Robert Non were named.

Salud also said that there will be others who will be admitted into the committee, and that they could come from anywhere. He, however, did not say how many more will be coming in.

Reyes, Salud clarified, could still ultimately end up coaching Gilas again since it is safe to say that he will again earn inclusion into the short list of candidates that the selection committee will come up with.

Should there not be a candidate suitable to the needs of the team, Reyes will get the job back, safe to assume, since he has been studying the international game for the last three years.

Reyes did not return calls and refused to answer text questions from Arab News at press time.

Manny V. Pangilinan will continue to bankroll the Gilas Pilipinas program, and with many of his executives belonging to the selection committee, it would be safe to assume that if Reyes will not call the shots anymore, then somebody from the PLDT group will do so.

And knowing MVP and his passion for the game, I’m sure they will make the right choice, ultimately.

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This happened mainly because of the debacle that Gilas suffered in the Asiad, where in-team squabbling was made public and when the Philippines shamed itself by shooting at its own goal.

Compounding matters was that the Filipinos finished a woeful seventh, certainly not a position that we were aiming for after giving world powers a run for their money in Seville, Spain in the World Cup.

Even the new pool of players will be chosen by the selection committee. That will, of course, be subject to consultation with the new coach.

But will this setup guarantee that all those who are capable of playing for flag and country be playing?

Gilas could have been a stronger team in Spain and in South Korea if all the players Reyes wanted were able to play. Let me rephrase that — if they were allowed by their respective PBA mother teams to play.

You see, politics is being played in the PBA and not all teams willingly gave their players to the National Five.

Rain or Shine was gung-ho about the idea of having its players play, hence the inclusion of Paul Lee, Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan and even Beau Belga. But there were several other players that Reyes wanted and didn’t get.

Let’s not name teams anymore, it’s all water under the bridge now.

The question begging for an answer is whether or not all the PBA teams would be willing to sacrifice company goals just to help the Philippine team internationally.

Otherwise, we can create all sorts of committees to do all sorts of jobs and get nowhere in the end.

But that’s just me.

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Manny Pacquiao missed his second straight game for KIA Motors on Wednesday night and the Sorento went down in flames in a truly ugly manner yet again.

No, I am not saying that had Pacquiao played, he could have saved the day for his team. Even 10 Pacquiaos wouldn’t have been able to stop Rain or Shine that day, nor will they have prevented a 32-point loss to Barangay Ginebra late last week.

What I am saying is that the foolishness of KIA in tapping Pacquiao as a player is now showing tangible results in the leaderboard.

Had KIA used the 11th overall pick to tab a player who can truly contribute, that player would have been able to do something in those game and allow the Sorento to walk out of those games as losers but with a little bit of respect.

Losing their last two games by an average of a shade over 30 points is certainly nothing to be proud of. Ginebra and Rain or Shine basically told KIA that it doesn’t belong in the PBA just yet.

Look at Blackwater, a fellow expansion squad which is at 0-3, in the lower rung of the standings than KIA but which has gained the respect of the opposition this early.

The Elite, who were beaten by KIA in the inaugurals after having control, 80-66, have dragged their last two foes to the limit, losing to the Elasto Painters by just eight points and taking Meralco to overtime before bowing.

That speaks volumes of how the Elite prepared for their stint in the PBA, and that they didn’t bastardize the league by signing up Pacquiao as playing coach and taking him in the first round of the Draft.

Blackwater wants to play in the league and prove that it belongs.

KIA wants to play in the league just to be talked about. It may have given management great results at the start when they floated Pacquiao’s name as their playing coach.

But let me tell you this: nobody loves a loser. And if KIA’s ultimate goal in joining the PBA is to be able to sell cars through advertising in the PBA, then taking 30-point losses night in and out could ultimately be associated with their brand.

And their marketing people will get to tell them in the long run that it was a bad move, after all.