Friday, January 12, 2007 Cesafi ‘to reaffirm’ support for SBP
ONE of the top honchos of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) said they are and have always been behind the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), following calls of former official of Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) to support SBP.
Cesafi commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy said they support the SBP because Cesafi is one of the founding stakeholders of Pilipinas Basketball (PB), the forerunner of SBP.
PB was formed when the Philippine Olympic Committee expelled Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) as the national sports association for basketball. SBP is a unified body formed to replace BAP as the national sports association for basketball.
Delayed
"We have always been on the side of SBP being one of the original stakeholders of PB," said Tiukinhoy in response to the call of Rep. Eddie Gullas (Cebu, 1st district) for Cesafi to make open their support for SBP.
"Making public the support just seems to be delayed because we were not given any formal communication on any meetings with SBP as of yet, because I think this group has not been fully organized yet," Tiukinhoy added.
Gullas, the president of the University of the Visayas, used to be the vice chairperson of BAP, and is a well-known basketball patron. UV is one of the 11 member-schools of Cesafi.
Board resolution
Tiukinhoy said the board meeting on Tuesday will aim to make a board resolution reaffirming their support to the group, which is composed of major stakeholders like the Philippine Basketball Association, Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines and National Collegiate Athletic Association.
These leagues decided to create a unified body so that the three-year sanction from the international governing body in basketball, Fiba, will finally be lifted, thus allowing Filipinos to compete in international competitions.
BAP president Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Manny Pangilinan last December in Hong Kong spearheaded the move. However, it led BAP board members to axe Estrada as its president, claiming that they were not consulted about the agreement. (MCB)
