Jalasco Resigns

The longest duel in the highest echelon of Philippine basketball came to an abrupt end yesterday when, in an act of sacrifice, Philippine Olympic Committee-recognized BAP president Freddie Jalasco yielded to his rival Quintellano "Tiny" Literal.

POC president Celso Dayrit said Jalasco relayed to him yesterday morning his decision to resign for the sake of national unity and to save the country from further embarrassment the impasse has caused particularly among neighboring countries still at a loss on whom to deal with on the forthcoming Southeast Asian Basketball championships.

The tournament, to be hosted by the country, is scheduled to be held April 2-7 at a venue still to be determined.

Jalasco told Dayrit he would tender his formal resignation on Monday.

"For the sake of national interest and unity, Freddie decided to step down and relinquish his post to Tiny Literal," Dayrit announced. "He (Jalasco) sacrificed leadership para matapos na itong gulo."

The decision ended the leadership stalemate which saw the two warring leaders holding on to their claims to the presidency since December, with no solution in sight barely two weeks before the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) championships.

With Jalasco ceding his claim on the BAP presidency, the POC and the PSC are expected to confer their recognition on Literal. The original RP team composed of MBA players will most likely be reinstated, the SEABA championships may now go on as scheduled, while a new association starts to bind the wounds inflicted on the sport.

The Jalasco decision came hours after a closed door meeting attended initially by Literal, his secretary general Graham Lim, Go Teng Kok of athletics, former PSC chair Philip Ella Juico and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office chair Fernando Carrascoso.

The group invited Juico, who brought along Carrascoso to the meeting at a Mabini cafe where they tried to draw a middle ground to solve the leadership crisis.

During the meeting Literal and his group insisted that they would go on with the staging of the SEABA tournament despite the fact that Jalasco is himself the SEABA president and claims financial support from the PSC and the recognition of the POC.

Literal produced the documents to prove that the participating countries — Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and possibly Brunei — have been coordinating with his group.

Until that time, Jalasco, on the other hand, had not received any communication from the SEABA members, indicating that no country is recognizing his leadership both as SEABA and BAP president.

Later during the meeting, Juico called up Dayrit who joined them later with former ABC and BAP secretary general Mauricio Martelino.

Dayrit warned of the impending embarrassment to the country as the SEABA tournament drew near, saying the tournament has to be pushed through because it is the qualifier for next year’s Asian men’s basketball championships.

The group formed an executive committee with Dayrit as chairman and Jalasco and Literal as vice-chair. The steering committee, to be headed by Lim, will include a board of advisers – Carrascoso, Martelino and Juico, who will also serve as spokesman.

The following day, Dayrit met with Jalasco and Martelino to apprise him of what transpired during the meeting. Instead of accepting the proposal to co-chair the committee with Literal, Jalasco offered to resign.

Informed of the new development, the Philippine Basketball League, which had supported Jalasco, welcomed the news and felt relieved that the "brouhaha" is over. "I hope this will be the start of the true unity for Philippine basketball," PBL commissioner Chino Trinidad said in a press statement.