Who paid filing fee for BAP?

MANILA, Philippines - A check for 14,000 Swiss francs or the equivalent of about P640,000 was recently paid to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne by a Hong Kong bank to contest the FIBA decision reaffirming its recognition of the SBP as a country affiliate, raising the question as to who footed the bill for the BAP.

It was the BAP that filed the case before the CAS, established by the IOC to settle sports-related disputes in 1984, early this month. The CAS arbiters are known to be high-level jurists.

The case was filed even as the Court of Appeals and later, the Supreme Court dismissed the BAP’s petition to prevent the SBP from taking over as the NSA for basketball despite recognition by FIBA and the POC.

Last July, a three-man FIBA special committee made up of secretary-general emeritus Borislav Stankovic, former president Dr. Carl Ching Men Ky and legal counsel Ken Madsen held deliberations to study the BAP’s petition and eventually ruled in the SBP’s favor. The committee, in effect, upheld the FIBA Central Board’s decision to recognize the SBP two years ago.

The BAP sought redress from the CAS a week before the Supreme Court issued its ruling in a 13-page decision penned by Associate Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago. The High Tribunal backed up the earlier Court of Appeals’ reversal of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 24 decision supporting the BAP over the SBP.

Appealing to the CAS appears to be the BAP’s last recourse. The gambit is that a favorable ruling from the CAS will compel FIBA and the POC to disenfranchise the SBP and recognize the BAP instead.

No trial has been set by the CAS so far but the BAP has reportedly named four witnesses to establish its case. The four witnesses are BAP chairman Rep. Luis Villafuerte, BAP president Prospero Pichay, Roberto Calo of the Philippine Inter-School Colleges University Athletic Association (PISCUAA) and former BAP president Lito Puyat.

The BAP brought the case only against FIBA but the CAS allowed the SBP to be a party because it is directly involved. The POC also requested to be a party in the arbitration proceedings but was not accepted by the CAS, probably to limit the scope of argumentation.

The SBP has contracted lawyer Dr. Xavier Favre-Bulle of the Lenz and Staehelin firm for the case. Favre-Bulle is a partner in the Swiss law firm, which has over 140 lawyers with offices in Geneva, Zurich and Lausanne. He is an expert in dispute resolution and arbitration with over 100 cases in his resume. Favre-Bulle is coordinating with the SBP’s Filipino lawyers led by Marievic Anonuevo.

A source said the SBP is awaiting the copy of the BAP’s legal brief before making a comment but will likely question the submission of four witnesses as it constitutes the presentation of new evidence not previously discussed in hearings conducted by the FIBA special committee.

The BAP’s move to seek redress from the CAS was viewed as a desperate measure that could not be a positive development for Philippine basketball. “What is the BAP trying to do?” said a veteran sports watcher. “The Supreme Court has spoken. Philippine basketball is now moving forward with the SBP and the BAP wants to retard its progress. The case before the CAS questions FIBA’s decision-making. Yet, when the BAP was summoned by FIBA to present its case in Geneva last July, no representative showed up.”

The BAP was recently quoted as saying it was not surprised by the Supreme Court decision and that was the reason why it elevated the case before the CAS.

“Once we win in the CAS, then there’s no reason for FIBA and the POC not to recognize us,” said Pichay. “If the POC remains firm and refuses to recognize us, then we will all be suspended by the IOC - that’s for sure.”

The question as to who paid the 14,000 Swiss francs cropped up when it was discovered that the check was made out by a Hong Kong bank, raising the possibility of either a Chinese backer or a Filipino with a foreign account as financier. Because of inactivity, it is unlikely that the BAP has funds of its own.