Unity at Last

Is it Unity at last! or Unity at Last?

This is a tough question to answer as both statements with an exclamation and question mark were my first reactions at the Unity Congress held at the Dusit Hotel last Monday. While everything from an observer's view looked good and politically correct, the skeptic in me couldn't help but ask if all this was for real.

Will the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) finally settle down as BAP-SBP and stay this way forever? Was Go Teng Kok really shaking hands with Manny Pangilinan (MVP)? Was that Graham Lim quietly seated at the back of the ballroom almost going unnoticed? Wasn't that an odd collection of officials at the presidential table with MVP and Go flanked by lawyer Boni Alentajan and Bernie Atienza to the left, and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Junjun Capistrano and Marivic Añonuevo to the right? Was FIBA Sec-Gen Patrick Baumann's visit worth it? While the Congress participants enjoyed the food and songs rendered by Bimbo Cerrudo and Kyla, were they all in there for unity's sake? And finally, was that photo op of top officials putting their hands together for real? Were all those officials truly sincere when they posed for photographers not once, but three times?

Pardon all the questions, but all these need to be answered even before we can dream of a united basketball family. Ever since we were suspended by the FIBA, the two groups were always miles apart even after agreeing to unite in that Tokyo meeting that brought about the now famous Tokyo communique. While the SBP continued to work to meet all the agreements of the Tokyo communique, the BAP seemed to be somewhere else and not serious with their own side for the deal. It even got to a point where the BAP even threatened to boycott the Unity Congress. Somehow, I still feel uneasy with the way the BAP has acted and feel that they're still up to something in line with their persistent wish to be running the affairs of the sport despite the Tokyo communique and the Unity Congress. Unless this is cleared once and for all, this unity is going to be a tight rope act.

The one thing that bothers me is why and how the BAP still insists that they should be at the helm of managing basketball in the country. While it's true that they have the 70-year old organization behind them, it's also acknowledged that nobody in the basketball world seems to be taking them seriously anymore. If the PBA, PBL, UAAP, NCAA, Cebu's CESAFI, NBC and other leagues are not with the BAP, then who is with the BAP? It was announced that the BAP had 66 member-leagues invited to attend the Unity Congress. I'm not sure if it was my poor eyesight, but who and where were these organizations at the Unity Congress?

From a technical standpoint, the BAP is now a thing of the past, and they should be naturally blending with the BAP-SBP as one basketball organization and not as a political party out to press for its own private interests. This is one thing that the SBP-BAP officials will have to deal with: the BAP will insist on certain items stubbornly and may even threaten to pull out if they don't get what they want. If they can get rid of their Presidents with the snap of a finger and move around as if they the entire basketball family was behind them, they're capable of doing anything.

This is where I'd like to ask the BAP people to consider an alternative that will be even better for them. Instead of clinging on to a post that is dying a natural death, they're better off looking "good" by going along with the positive vibes, pr and sympathy being generated with the setting up of the BAP-SBP. How can you go wrong with no less than a person whose initials are MVP at the helm of the organization? If the BAP is sincerely concerned with the country's record of losing face in the international arena where the BAP-led teams have finished miserably, then the entry of the PBA (with the country's best players) should be an improvement, shouldn't it? If the BAP is also true with its desire to upgrade college basketball, wouldn't the entry of UAAP and the NCAA be a big boost to these dreams?

They won't admit it, so let me say it. The basketball family has lost respect for the BAP that it would've been a matter of time before they'd be standing as just a set of officers without a following. This could even lead to a not so glamorous natural death. Then make the wise move to live again and not die!

Let's forget the past and sincerely work for the future of basketball in the country. Forget the BAP. Let's move on with BAP-SBP.

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Time-out: Happy birthday to my brother Henry. >>> You can reach me at [email protected]

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