Monday, June 16, 2008 Cesafi turns down BAP offer . . for now By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
AFTER the Basketball Association of the Philippines-Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas top man refused to answer questions regarding the issue of unity and legitimacy, the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc (Cesafi) is now keeping its options open.
“We are keeping our options open because we have to affiliate with the legitimate organization. Things are a bit unclear now so we just have to wait,” said Felix Tiukinhoy, commissioner of the Cesafi, which is one of the major stakeholders of the BAP-SBP.
Cesafi was offered by the BAP faction of the BAP-SBP, the camp of senatorial reject Prospero Pichay, a slot in their Board of Trustees.
However, Tiukinhoy declined. “I politely turned it down as I have no mandate from the Board of Trustees (of Cesafi),” he said.
Tiukinhoy and Baldomero Estenzo, the Cesafi representative to the BAP-SBP, were invited to the national congress of the Manny Pangilinan camp last June 12 and will be reporting to the Cesafi Board what transpired in the elections.
The elections, which elected Pangilinan as president, was the second held by BAP-SBP in a week.
The first elections named Pichay as the new head of the BAP-SBP.
“There were so many unanswered questions because they will not answer it, which is disappointing. They want our loyalty but they could not give us a reason to do so,” said Tiukinhoy.
Estenzo tried to bring up the issue with Pangilinan but the latter told him that he did not want to dwell in the past, throwing the issue out the window.
Meanwhile, the camp of Pichay once more questioned the legality of Pangilinan’s election yesterday saying they failed to make quorum and that some leagues were misrepresented.
“Blessing in disguise pala na hindi natuloy and TRO para nakita naming kung anong nangyari sa election nila,” said Graham Lim of BAP.
BAP tried but failed to get a restraining order for the BAP-SBP election.
“The people representing some leagues do not have the authority to be there. Take for instance Bernie Atienza. He represented Cagayan de Oro Basketball Federation, and when we checked with the federation, they said that they did not authorize him to represent them,” said Lim, who admitted that they had a mole sent to the congress to observe the proceedings and report it later back to them.
As of the moment, which organization should be the country’s governing body for basketball, still remains hazy.
Pichay’s camp says that they have the Bangkok Agreement to back their claims, while Pangilinan leans on the support of the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Fiba to legitimize their claim.
“It should have been that way. But the question is, is Fiba and POC supporting the right and legitimate group?” Lim said.
“We know we are right. The only difference between us and them is they can afford to buy good publicity,” Lim added. (MCB)
