Hitting the wall

"The status quo remains."

This was the brief text message sent to The STAR by Basketball Association of the Philippines executive vice-president Christian Tan when asked about the reaction of the FIBA-Asia Executive Board regarding the BAP’s expulsion from the Philippine Olympic Committee.

In effect, the POC has hit the wall, the limits of its powers. As long as FIBA recognizes the BAP, all the POC can do is make life miserable for the NSA here in the Philippines. Nevertheless, BAP president Joey Lina has sent a letter to POC president Jose Cojuangco, asking for reconsideration, although we may all surmise it will be useless.

The SEABA team left at 6:35 p.m. aboard a Philippine Airlines flight for Kuala Lumpur. The Philippines team takes on host Malaysia in its opening assignment on July 5, plays Thailand on July 6, meets Indonesia on July 7, tackles Singapore on July 8, then faces Vietnam on July 9. The tournament format calls for no championship game. The team with the best win-loss record after the elimination round will be declared champion. The top two teams go on to FIBA-Asia Championship in Doha, Qatar in September, where the PBA squad is slated to take over.

Why would FIBA-Asia bar the Philippines from participating in the tournament, as some members of the media have posited? The BAP is the one being harassed, and has still managed to function. Let’s not deteriorate into speculating about what FIBA-Asia would do to the team, or what other countries may decide, and so on. Whether or not the BAP deserves the mandate it has from FIBA, the point is that it has the mandate, and increasing the volume of complaints or size of the argument is not going to change that at present.

All the justifications in the world will not make the POC’s actions seem more logical. They have arbitrarily picked basketball because it is closest to the Filipinos’ heart? That already displays a lack of logic. The most troubled areas are normally where you start trouble-shooting, and that is obviously not the BAP.

Let those rushing enthusiastically to protect the POC’s actions be cautioned against casually throwing around words like "national interest", "incompetence", "unpatriotic actions", "execution" and "rule of law" around. Let’s not proclaim to speak on behalf of the nation. Self-righteousness serves no one in this situation, and metaphors have their place. Who is to say what is incompetent? Is there any rule on that in the BAP’s charter, or FIBA’s for that matter?

We have all been disappointed with our performance in international competition; who hasn’t? If even the PBA’s best have had trouble meeting success at the Asian level, is that necessarily the BAP’s fault entirely? Or are we going to now absolve the PBA and everybody else of any responsibility (because they’re heftier allies than adversaries) and simply lay blanket blame on the BAP? Let’s accept the fact that Asia is much stronger now.

When the BAP finally formed a full-time basketball team after almost twenty years–thanks to the unacknowledged generosity of Cebuana Lhuillier–the POC went out of its way to attack the team. The BAP was already solving its problems even before the POC suddenly decided it wanted to run basketball in the country. But the relentless pressure from the POC and its friends in the media scared and Cebuana Lhuillier into leaving the team, as it scares NSA’s into falling in line. Did we really have to make the problem worse before letting things get better? Or is the POC remedy the only one allowed?

If the FIBA even allows the POC to explain its side, it will ask for substance, not statements that muddy the waters of the issue. What are the POC’s grounds? Much of what the POC has done in this case is relative. There are other NSA’s who are worse off, but the POC decided on its own to pick on the BAP. Was there ever an investigation into the allegations? The POC held a general assembly in the home of the POC president. Does that follow established protocol? Why did it take them two weeks to send the notice of suspension (and on a weekend, at that), and only after the BAP asked for the written notice? Where is the documentation for everything the POC has done so far, so it may bear public examination?

How come the PBFI couldn’t hold its own elections? How can they unite the community if the Philippine Basketball Association, one of the sport’s largest stakeholders, will not participate? Do all these questions showcase competence?

Why is it that all we read about from the POC is their efforts to eliminate the BAP? Why don’t we hear anything about the programs to make sure that we perform well in the Southeast Asian Games, a mere four months away? Why are they spending so much effort on one association, when the entire country is hosting an international multi-sport event, and the venues aren’t even ready? Seriously, THAT could be considered an "unpatriotic act," and a "national embarrassment," couldn’t it? Just ask Sen. Dick Gordon.

To quote a recent movie, "The whisper of truth can be heard over the roar of a crowd."

The truth is that the POC has hit the wall. And until FIBA listens to them, all of their railing and roaring will not signify much, other than to unfortunately make the BAP miserable at home.

And give us another public fight we’d rather not see.