Sterling remarks

The international sporting world was dealt several “black eyes” in the past two weeks.  And we are not talking about boxing.

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has not been exhibiting sterling behavior.  He was recorded by his girlfriend (who ironically is half black) as saying “not to bring black people to his games”... not even Magic Johnson. The octogenarian billionaire, who happens to be the NBA’s longest-running team owner after buying the Clippers in 1981, has been the subject of several race-related controversies.  In 2009, he settled a rental discrimination case for $2.95 million.  In 2005, he paid an undisclosed amount to settle a suit alleging he tried to force Blacks and Latinos out of LA apartments he owned.

Sterling’s remarks provoked a huge outcry with President Obama himself, who was then en route to Manila, saying that the comments were “ignorant” and “incredibly offensive.” The Clippers’ players themselves staged a silent protest, wearing their shirts inside out to hide the team logo during the pre-game warm up and black shirts, socks and bands in one of their semifinal games against the Golden State Warriors (a series which they eventually won).

The NBA immediately conducted an investigation. Under the leadership of new Commissioner Adam Silver, the league decided to “ban Sterling for life from any association with the Clippers organization or the NBA” and fine him $2.5 million. In addition, Silver urged the board of governors to use its authority to force a sale of the team. Under its by-laws, 3/4 of the NBA team owners can vote to force a sale. Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan has made his sentiments known saying he is “disgusted that a fellow team owner could hold such sickening and offensive views.” Commissioner Silver’s quick action can be described as sterling silver.  

Ironically again, there were speculations that Magic Johnson was a potential buyer of the franchise. But the former part-owner of the Lakers and current part-owner of the Dodgers denied the rumor. If eye for an eye is the rule, Sterling may not be welcome to LA baseball games as well.

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Spanish football was also the scene of nasty racial taunts. During a match between Barcelona and Villareal, a fan threw a banana at Barcelona’s Dani Alves. The Brazilian offensive right back picked up the banana and took a bite. Villareal immediately responded by banning the fan for life, but the Spanish Football League, La Liga, still fined the club €12,000. This incident led several star footballers of different nationalities to post pictures of themselves eating bananas together with the hashtag #weareallmonkeys.  

A week later, Levante’s Senegalese midfielder Papakouli “Pape” Diop who was about to take a corner kick opted to dance amidst the monkey chants of Athletico Madrid fans. The latter, which will compete in this season’s UEFA Champions League final against Real Madrid, was upset (and apparently so were its fans) by Levante. UEFA, the European Football’s governing body took the Spanish league to task so much so that the latter came out with a statement “strongly condemning any racist, discriminatory, violent, xenophobic or intolerant acts, especially football in sport.”       

Growing up, I was constantly reminded that “sticks and stones can hurt your bones but words can never hurt you.” Yet racial slurs inflict real psychological damage. In former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s sterling remarks: “Ignorance and prejudice are the handmaidens of propaganda. Our mission, therefore, is to confront ignorance with knowledge, bigotry with tolerance, and isolation with the outstretched hand of generosity. Racism can, will, and must be defeated.” 

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Prepaid complaint: Amidst the well-applauded decision of the NTC to reduce text message charges from P1 to P0.80, your four centavos finally received a response on our inquiry regarding the continuing legality of placing expiry dates in prepaid mobile phone cards. In a well written 2 ½ page explanation, Atty. Ramon Nolasco Jr., OIC-Consumer Welfare and Protection Division, argues that “the whole telecom industry is of the view that the case of gift check or gift certificate is not the same in all scores to the case of prepaid telephone cards” for in respect of the latter, “there exists what is known in the industry as carrying cost or average cost to the service provider of operating and maintaining its network for the benefit of all subscribers, whether the SIM card is revenue generating (with load) or non-revenue generating (without load).” Rather than immediately reacting to the letter, let me review the pertinent regulations and consult with experts on the subject matter. If you wish to get a copy of the NTC explanation, please email me. Meanwhile, I hope that the reduction in the text message charge is immediately implemented so that long suffering mobile phone consumers are finally given a break.

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Education blues: Our column is becoming to be a consumer help desk. I was enrolling my five-year-old for his senior kindergarten class at the Colegio San Agustin (CSA). To avail of a small discount, I wanted to pay in full the tuition and other fees. I also wanted to use my credit card to earn rewards points. However, I was informed by the accounting office that while the use of credit cards was allowed, I had no choice but to avail of a pay lite or deferred payment scheme which entails the payment of a monthly interest. I was also told that the credit card machines have been pre-programmed to only provide for this option.

We were allowed to use a credit card and pay in full the CSA tuition last year. We have also paid in full via credit card the tuition in another school. Why is CSA changing the rule this year? In the absence of an option to pay in full, it would seem that CSA is sanctioning, if not encouraging parents to finance their children’s education with an arguably onerous loan.

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Greetings: Birth anniversary best wishes to author and lecturer, Emmanuel de Leon.

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“Achievement has no color” – Abraham Lincoln

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