Seatmates, Part 2

Yesterday, I wrote about Games and Amusements Board (GAB) Commissioner Angel Bautista, my seatmate on a flight from Manila to Bacolod last Saturday.

Today, I’m writing about another seatmate University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) president Anton Montinola, whom I sat beside on the flight from Bacolod back to Manila last Sunday.

Mind you, I never planned to sit beside either Bautista or Montinola. It just happened that way — by accident.

Montinola, who represents Far Eastern University (FEU) — which his family owns — in the UAAP Board, doesn’t hide the fact that he is an Ateneo alumnus. He wore blue in the historic Game 3 of the La Salle-Ateneo championship series in the UAAP men’s seniors basketball tournament at the Big Dome a few weeks ago.

But just because he supports the Eagles doesn’t mean that as UAAP president, he’ll only see blue. Not so, Montinola stressed. He’s invested too much of his time and energy in the UAAP not to consider the big picture — which is the league as a whole.

Montinola has served in the UAAP Board since 1989 and this season was his second as president.

"The UAAP has gone a long way from when I became involved in the Board and I’m proud of that," he said. "Last year, the Board allocated P500,000 for each school after the season — that had never been done before. This year, we hope to break the record — the figures aren’t ready yet but the indication is we’ll be able to allocate a lot more for each school. My goal is to see to the long-term viability of the league. That means not only the financial side but also the operational side."

Montinola said that the ABS-CBN partnership has done a lot to strengthen the UAAP’s foundations. The five-year contract was a perfect marriage for the UAAP and ABS-CBN’s Studio 23 which is oriented towards the youth market. The coverage extended to 80 percent of the games.

"Silverstar (the previous TV producer) had the right of first refusal to negotiate, not the right of first refusal on the contract," explained Montinola. "After the Board awarded the contract to ABS-CBN, Silverstar went to court." The word was Silverstar had accepted an advance from a TV network on the premise of delivering the UAAP contract. So it was caught in a bind when ABS-CBN got the rights instead. Silverstar’s case was eventually dismissed.

On the scalping of tickets, Montinola said there was no way FEU, as this year’s host school, could be guilty.

"We knew there would be a tremendous demand for tickets so we centralized the distribution and put the school’s Chief Financial Officer Fe Canilao in charge," said Montinola who assured that there were no ticket leakages to scalpers. No big blocks of tickets — like in the ’20s — were sold to any one buyer. The scalpers, he continued, got their tickets through other sources, not FEU.

Montinola batted for the retention of the host school system. "Once every eight years, a school has the chance to shine as UAAP host — Let’s keep that tradition," he said.

As for La Salle’s crack rookie Mark Cardona, Montinola said the UAAP Board sought verification of his transcripts from Carson High School in California because the documents had hand-written insertions. Montinola admitted that the transcripts later sent by Carson to the Board were the same as those held by La Salle.

"It was our duty to check," said Montinola. "Nothing against Cardona — I think he’s good for the league. I learned about his background and I hope he continues to shine in the UAAP so he can go on to establish a long career in the pros. I awarded his Rookie of the Year trophy."

Montinola said the Board’s 6-1 vote to interpret a fraction of a year to mean an entire year in applying the two-year residency requirement for the student who had studied three of the last five years abroad will take effect next season. Additionally, he noted that the Board may choose to limit playing a Fil-Am or foreign player one at a time on the court. If approved, the rule will not apply to holdovers as it will be prospective.

On pulling out UAAP players from the Philippine Basketball League (PBL), Montinola said the Board’s hands are tied. "The NCAA withdrew its players so we thought we should do the same since the GAB had ruled on the PBL being professional," said Montinola. "The UAAP can’t be blamed for pulling out our players. The PBL should appeal to Malacañang to reverse the ruling instead of blaming the UAAP."

If the UAAP allows its players to play in the PBL or any pro league, what will stop Johnny Abarrientos from going back to FEU because he has a year left of eligibility, asked Montinola.

Regarding the Asian Basketball Academy (ABA), Montinola said it was a good choice for the UAAP to tap the organization to manage this year’s tournament. He credited the ABA for improving the quality of officiating in the UAAP. "Look at Chot (Reyes)," said Montinola. "He’s from Ateneo and he heads the ABA. But I don’t think anyone can accuse him of being partisan."

Montinola, a hoops buff, said he’d like to see the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) someday merge like the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA). And he’d also like to be in Pusan to watch the Philippines try to regain the Asian Games basketball crown next year.

Montinola was in Bacolod last weekend for the University Games. Did he spot any prospects for FEU? There were two, he replied. I left it at that.

On the same flight back to Manila were La Salle sports officials Danny Jose and Ramoncito Campos, Archers assistant coach Jojo Villapando, Pilo Pumaren, and team coordinator Anthony Antonio. They were probably wondering what Montinola and I talked about for close to an hour in the plane. Now, you and they know.