Puyat to seek BAP post versus Literal

It will be Gonzalo "Lito" Puyat – and not Freddie Jalasco – who will be pitted against Quintellano "Tiny" Literal when the Basketball Association of the Philippines holds a special presidential election on June 7 at the Manila Bank building in Makati.

"It’s Mr. Puyat. And as I’ve said before, it will be Tiny against the mighty," said Jalasco yesterday as he finally announced that he will no longer seek the BAP presidency, a post he inherited from Puyat in 1996.

Jalasco, who took a leave of absence as BAP president last March after a protracted leadership dispute with Literal starting last December, added that during the elections, their group will nominate businessman Manny Pangilinan as the new chairman of the BAP.

Almost everybody already knows that Mr. Pangilinan will come in as chairman. And we can all clearly see that he can help the BAP in so many ways. He’ll be there on June 7 and if Mr. Puyat wins, then he would be named chairman," Jalasco added.

Pangilinan, the PLDT boss, is not new to basketball considering the fact that he owns the Mobiline franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association, and that he is the biggest supporter of the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP.

"The only question now regarding the forthcoming BAP election is that whether or not Literal, who claims to be the duly-elected BAP head, would show up after his group recently filed a Temporary Restraining Order against it in a Manila court.

"Well, it’s up to the court to decide on this. But with or without Literal’s group, we will push through with the elections. It’s up to them but it would be better if they would attend," Jalasco added.

Literal’s group had earlier said they have majority of the 29 voting members of the BAP to turn the tables against the group led by Jalasco and Puyat.

And their failure to join the elections would be as good as giving up the fight. "That’s what’s going to happen if they don’t attend the elections. As far as we’re concerned, 17 of the 29 voting members have confirmed their participation," Jalasco said.

"At first, they wanted us to call an election. But after the Philippine Olympic Committee ordered us to do so, they raised a lot of questions, including the venue of the said elections. This time, it’s a TRO that they are seeking," Jalasco said.

Jalasco said their group had originally wanted the Club Filipino in Greenhills to be the venue but that it was unavailable for the June 7 date, giving them no other choice but to hold it in the Makati building owned by the Puyat family.