Lina proposing 15-man board

Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) president Joey Lina is proposing a 15-man board for the new cage body that will be formed from the collapse of the BAP and Pilipinas Basketball (PB), the fledgling organization expected to be supported by the Philippine Olympic committee (POC).

Sources said Lina is suggesting a breakdown of composition where 40 percent or six seats will be allocated for geographic representation, 30 percent or four seats for schools, 20 percent or three seats for the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) as the professional league and 10 percent or two seats for the Philippine Basketball League (PBL), the National Basketball Conference (NBC) and others as the commercial sector.

It was agreed by Lina and PB president Bernie Atienza to collapse their organizations and create a new body in the spirit of statesmanship. The new body will not be the result of a merger because neither the BAP nor PB will survive or take over the other.

The same sources said the officers of the new body will be elected from among the Board members and serve on a rotation basis with no provision for a reelection to ensure a continuous turnover. The Board will also appoint an executive director acting as the secretary-general.

Officials of the BAP, PB, PBA and POC signed a joint communiqué to end the country’s year-long leadership dispute in Tokyo last Aug. 28. The joint communiqué was accepted by the Federation Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) Central Board which decided to lift the Philippines’ suspension on condition the stipulations of the joint communiqué are accomplished on Sept. 30 or earlier.

One of the stipulations is to convene a National Congress before the deadline.

"I think the tasks stipulated in the joint communiqué are doable within the deadline period," said PBA commissioner Noli Eala who attended the Tokyo meetings. "There is already a pattern we can follow in drafting the Constitution and By-laws. Convening the National Congress and calling for an election of officers can also be done in 30 days. The key is to institute the reforms of democratic representation, transparency and accountability of official acts."

The Congress will likely take the form of a corporate stockholders meeting and will not be policy-making.

Eala said the framework of which leagues will be responsible for the national team has been decided.

"It’s clear the PBA will form the national team for the major international competitions such as the qualifying tournaments for the Olympics and World Championships," said Eala. "And for the regional competitions such as the Southeast Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Championships, the NCAA, UAAP and PBL will be responsible."