MVP ain't bluffing

SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan wasn’t bluffing when he said the other day he wouldn’t hesitate to resign his position if only to avert a fourth suspension on the Philippines by FIBA. For the national interest, he would give up the post that is coveted by the disgruntled elements of the infamous BAP, the SBP’s predecessor as the NSA for basketball.

But let’s put things in perspective. Before anything else, let’s be clear on one thing – Pangilinan is no quitter. As a business executive, he has more than held his own on the global stage with a slew of victories in furious boardroom battles under his belt. Pangilinan isn’t allergic to fights – in fact, he enjoys a tough challenge. But he likes to fight fair and square. If his opponent enters the ring with loaded fists, he’ll raise a howl – because that’s not the way to play fair.

So why is he thinking of resigning from the SBP?

Obviously, Pangilinan doesn’t think he’s in a fair fight. The SBP has done more than its share in putting Philippine basketball back on track, complying – under severely hostile circumstances, thanks to the BAP – to the best of its ability with the terms of the so-called Bangkok Agreement.

After receiving written assurances from FIBA that it would ignore the BAP and secretary-general Graham Lim, the SBP got the shock of its life when FIBA recently formed a “special commission” to investigate the BAP’s complaints against the SBP. Additionally, FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann announced Lim would be reinstated as a member of the FIBA Youth Commission after the Swiss lawyer had previously struck him out. You wonder what Lim has done to deserve a reinstatement.

Why is FIBA suddenly singing a different tune? What has the SBP done, or not done, for FIBA to form a “special commission” on the BAP’s say-so?

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The SBP fears that the “special commission” is out to do a hatchet job at the Philippines’ expense. It appears the BAP has found a way to warm the cockles of FIBA’s heart. How is a mystery because the BAP certainly has no basis to regain recognition, if not credence. If the “special commission” is nothing more than a kangaroo court and its investigation a charade, why give FIBA the satisfaction of showing up in Geneva to be lynched?

The “special commission” is calling the SBP and BAP officials to a meeting in Geneva on July 20-22.

Is the SBP playing into the BAP’s hands? There’s nothing the BAP would like better than taking Pangilinan out of the power equation. Pangilinan knows it and so do his chief lieutenants. But if Pangilinan’s resignation will spare the Philippines from another suspension, it’s a high price to pay to let clowns fill the leadership vacuum.

The SBP isn’t inclined to attend the meeting called by the FIBA “special commission” unless FIBA explains why it is being summoned. That’s basic decency. Surely, if one is being asked to fly thousands of miles, he deserves to know why.

The scuttlebutt is the “special commission” wants to find out why the NSA is called the SBP, not BAP-SBP, and why the BAP isn’t involved in the NSA affairs. If those are FIBA’s concerns, the SBP is prepared to explain the reasons. In fact, it has done so in previous letters – if FIBA cared to read the SBP’s voluminous communiques.

Why is FIBA listening to the BAP and not giving due respect to the SBP which is supposed to be its country affiliate? Is it because FIBA can’t seem to disengage from certain individuals who claim intimate relations with influential Asian basketball power brokers? Is FIBA compromising its principles to sleep with the enemy for convenience?

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FIBA should realize that if it has the interests of basketball in mind, the SBP is the logical partner. The SBP has the support of the sport’s major stakeholders and the vision to lay out a program for the future. The BAP has neither.

The battle isn’t about resources. This is about working for Philippine basketball with sincerity and without a political agenda. 

Compare the credentials of the men behind the SBP and BAP. Who are the professionals and who are the politicians? Who are basketball stakeholders and who aren’t? Who are willing to sacrifice for the country and who aren’t?

Someone said Baumann is fed up getting daily black propaganda reports from the BAP and instead of slamming the door shut on the discredited organization, is now amenable to a compromise – if only to get the barkers off his back. But is this act of selfish convenience not an act of treachery against a country affiliate?

Perhaps, FIBA considers the Philippines just a small speck in the world basketball map and all this politicking among Filipinos has become an annoying nuisance. Maybe, FIBA couldn’t care less if the Philippines is obliterated from the basketball landscape. After all, the Philippines hasn’t made a dent in the FIBA-Asia Championships for nearly 20 years, placing no higher than ninth since 1993. And if the Philippines is an inconsequential player in Asia, FIBA might just as well play footsies with troublemakers because it wouldn’t make a difference one way or the other. 

But here’s the rub. We, Filipinos, love basketball. Despite the odds, we continue to dream that someday, we will once again reign as Asian champions and play in the Olympics. The SBP, not the BAP, gives us hope to live that dream – if only FIBA will allow it.