PBA ‘council’ to go after debtors

The Philippine Basketball Association is looking for a new television broadcaster but it doesn’t necessarily mean it would no longer go after its previous broadcasting partners which left a trail of unfulfilled contract provisions and unpaid financial obligations.

In fact, outgoing PBA chairman Jun Cabalan has hatched an idea on how to do it — actually still a proposal envisioned to enrich the league’s coffers and help the member teams in defraying the high cost of maintaining a ballclub.

Cabalan wants to form a group tasked to collect roughly P250 million from its delinquent partners.

"It would be like the chairman going back and attending to unfinished business," said Cabalan of his proposal.

The San Miguel Corp. executive said he has made an informal suggestion to the board in its meeting last Monday and he intends to make it formal in their first meeting for 2004.

By then, Cabalan is back as an ordinary board member with Sta. Lucia’s Buddy Encarnado already assuming the board chairmanship. San Miguel’s Bert Manlapit will be the new vice chair and Shell’s Bobby Kanapi the treasurer.

Cabalan’s idea is to tap former board chairmen Rey Gamboa, Wilfred Uytengsu, Butch Alejo and himself to form "Council of Elders" with the task of helping the Commissioner’s Office go after those who owed the league.

"In a way, each of us past chairmen helped in the accumulation of these debts. But only because we were busy attending to more immediate and pressing business," Cabalan said.

"This is to send a message and let them (debtors) know that we are bent on collecting what are owed us," Cabalan added.

To be collected are those owed by Vintage Enterprises (P26 million), Viva-Vintage Sports (P139 million) and the NBN-IBC consortium (P134 million).

Cabalan realized that it’s not an easy task but it would be of great help to the league and the teams if they collect some payment in the near future.

The league has already sent a notice of termination to NBN-4 which has debts that will reach P134 million at the end of the year — a sum the league is trying to collect from Manila Bank on the strength of a Letter of Credit issued to cover the TV contract.

Termination of the contract is moot and academic, sources said, since NBN is in no position to cover the debts or comply with two other league demands — the issuance of a new LC for 2004 and the resumption of the parallel broadcast of the games with IBC 13.