Sporting Chance

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Chairman Wilfred Uytengsu, Jr. has taken the bull by the horns.

The other day, Uytengsu presided in an emergency PBA Board of Governors meeting to spell out the eligibility guidelines for Fil-foreigners in the wake of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) crackdown on suspected impostors.

Uytengsu ruled that starting the Second Conference, Fil-foreigners will be required to submit not only Certificates of Recognition (CRs) from the BI but also confirmations from the Department of Justice (DOJ). Additionally, they must turn in certified true copies of documents attesting to their Filipino heritage, such as their Filipino parents' birth certificates, to the PBA for scrutiny.

Last year, Fil-foreigners were required to submit only CRs, even provisional (as in Rob Parker's case), for a ticket to play in the PBA. This year, fresh applicants were required to submit CRs and confirmations from the DOJ -- that's why the files of first-year players DaVonn Harp, Mick Pennisi, and Tony de la Cruz carry DOJ confirmations. But they weren't required to turn in documents backing up their claims of Filipino parentage.

Uytengsu's recent decision covers all Fil-foreigners, regardless of when they started playing.

Harp, Pennisi and de la Cruz are a step ahead of the others because they've already gotten their CRs and DOJ confirmations. But they must also submit documents proving their Filipino roots -- I'm sure officials from other teams will be interested to scrutinize their papers.

Uytengsu is determined to reestablish the league's credibility and integrity. A cloud of suspicion still hangs over several alleged Fil-foreigners whose Filipino roots are in doubt. Uytengsu's decisive action will erase doubts once and for all.

BI Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez' crusade to weed out impostors is unquestionably a step in the right direction. If there are impostors out there, they've got to be exposed and penalized for making a mockery of our laws and fooling the Filipino public. But Rodriguez and DOJ operatives shouldn't stop at lowering the boom on impostors. They should also take the impostors' agents to task -- they're just as guilty or maybe even more so.

If an impostor is exposed, the PBA should look into the culpability of his agent. A ban should be imposed on an impostor's agent, barring him from ever doing business in the PBA. An impostor's foreign agent should be blacklisted and prohibited from ever entering the country. If a local agent is involved, he should be jailed. The impostor shouldn't be the only one censured. His agents are probably more to blame for the scam.

You can only sympathize with a team that unwittingly hires an impostor. A team coughs up good money to recruit a Fil-foreigner. If an alleged Fil-foreigner is proved to be an impostor, will he or his agents reimburse the team for what had been paid to bring him from overseas? Deportation seems to be too mild a penalty for an impostor -- it's almost like a slap on the wrist. An impostor couldn't care less to return to our shores anyway. An impostor must be hit where it hurts -- in his pocket. After all, an impostor's only motive is greed -- he wouldn't sell his soul to the devil unless big money is involved.

Now if it can be proved that a team deliberately tried to hoodwink the league by hiring a ringer, then stiffer sanctions must be imposed -- like a heavy fine, a suspension from competition or expulsion. A team that wittingly hires an impostor delivers a clear message of notoriety -- that it disregards the basic tenets of fair play to win at all costs, even at the expense of morals and integrity.

But a word of caution. People's lives are on the line here. Reputations are at stake. For an alleged Fil-foreigner to be declared an impostor, there's got to be proof beyond reasonable doubt. Suspicion shouldn't be a basis for deportation.