Barrios rejects bending rules for annual draft

MANILA, Philippines - PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios said yesterday he won’t relax the league’s requirements for eligibility of Fil-foreigners in the draft, stressing that the Bureau of Immigration (BI) recognition and Department of Justice (DOJ) affirmation remain as necessary elements in the application.

The strict compliance of the two requirements disqualified two applicants for the PBA draft – Mark Jeffries and Robert Simpson. A PBA source said eight other Fil-foreign players never got to file application papers because they had no BI and DOJ documents.

Cleared for the draft at Market! Market! this afternoon were 10 Fil-foreigners. They are 6-4 1/4 Sean Anthony of McGill University in Montreal, 6-0 1/4 Hyram Bagatsing of La Salle, 6-2 1/2 Chris Canta of Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, 6-3 1/2 Melchor Gile of UST, 6-0 1/2 Alan Husted of the University of California at San Diego, 6-1 3/4 Mehyar Rafi-Aval of Frolunda High School in Sweden, 6-1 John Smith of the University of Hawaii, 6-4 Chester Taylor of UST, 6-3 Josh Vanlandingham of Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, Washington and 5-11 Shawn Weinstein of St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. The 10 Fil-foreigners were all born overseas and hold dual citizenships.

Player agent Caloy Allado appealed to the PBA in Jeffries’ behalf and asked if the 6-4 guard-forward from William Penn University in Iowa could be exempted from the BI and DOJ requirements because he already has a Philippine passport issued by the consulate in Los Angeles. The appeal was turned down.

Allado’s two other Fil-foreign players Weinstein and Smith were cleared for the draft.

“Weinstein and Smith had no Philippine passports to begin with,” said Allado. “We went through the process of obtaining their documents from the BI and DOJ then got their passports. But in Jeffries’ case, he came with a passport. When I was informed the PBA still insisted on the BI and DOJ documents, there was too little time left for the processing. I really can’t understand the logic of rejecting the appeal. The purpose of obtaining the BI and DOJ documents is to establish or verify a legitimate claim to a passport. But with Jeffries, the Philippine consulate already certified his legitimacy by issuing a passport. Surely, there is basis for an appeal. It’s just like Gabe Norwood’s case. He got his Philippine passport to play for our national team without going through the BI and DOJ. The PBA allowed Norwood in the draft as an exception because he already had a passport and played for the national team.”

Allado said Jeffries was downcast after his disqualification particularly as he made his way to Manila at his own expense, there is no doubt as to his Filipino lineage (his mother Lucia Aguilar is from Samar) and he holds a legitimate Philippine passport.

Although his papers were not complete, Jeffries was permitted by the PBA to play in the recent five-day rookie camp at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig on Allado’s request. Allado was given up to last Friday to deliver the BI and DOJ documents but couldn’t beat the deadline.

Jeffries, 23, impressed scouts in the rookie camp, firing 10 points on the fourth day and 11 on the fifth. Philippine Patriots manager Erick Arejola is reportedly interested in trying out Jeffries for the Asean Basketball League (ABL).

“For sure, Jeffries would’ve been drafted,” said Allado, a former UP varsity cager. “Now, he’ll try his luck in the ABL.”

Aside from the 10 Fil-foreigners, four draft hopefuls played abroad but because they were born in the Philippines, were spared from the BI and DOJ requirements. They are 5-6 1/4 Martin Travela of Lassen Community College in Susanville, California, 5-10 3/4 Uriel Gupilan of Walla Walla University in College Place, Washington, 5-9 Ralph Binos of Sheffield Hallam University in South Yorkshire, UK and 5-9 1/2 Christian Gavina of Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.

The two Fil-foreigners who stood out in the rookie camp were Anthony and Vanlandingham. Anthony, whose mother Angelyn Christina Dee is President Aquino’s sister Viel’s sister-in-law, was born in Vancouver. A physical education major, the 24-year-old Anthony gained a reputation as a slasher and stopper at McGill where he ended his varsity career as the school’s fourth leading all-time scorer with 1,834 points in 152 games. He averaged 15.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.7 steals and 34.1 minutes as a senior in 2008-09.

Vanlandingham, a great grandson of the country’s only two-time Olympic medalist Teofilo Yldefonso, was born in Seattle and played for Hapee Toothpaste in the PBL. He hit 17 points on 7-of-7 from the field, including two triples, on the third day of the rookie camp.

A Fil-foreign draft sleeper is Smith who averaged 16.3 points and 3.1 assists as a University of Hawaii senior guard in 2008-09 to earn All-Pacific West first team honors. One of his most memorable games came that season when he unloaded 24 points including the buzzer-beating triple to lift Hawaii to an 80-78 win over Chaminade University at the Hilo gym. Smith, 24, suited up for Lokomotiv Bernau in the German league last season.