Dubai promoter in hold-order list

The PBA isn’t the only party putting the squeeze on disgraced promoter Ramon Pizarras who left a slew of financial obligations stemming from hosting two league games in Dubai recently. Dana Express Travels general manager Noemi Joy Tolentino has informed PBA commissioner Chito Salud that a Dubai sponsor has blacklisted Pizarras, his family and guarantors at the airport to prevent their departure from the United Arab Emirates until the obligations are settled.

PBA special assistant to the commissioner and media affairs bureau chief Willie Marcial said Pizarras owes the league about P1.5 Million. If Pizarras fails to pay up, the league will institute legal measures against the Filipino promoter.

“My local sponsor had a meeting with Mr. Pizarras and his family,” said Tolentino in a recent letter to Salud. “Mr. Pizarras guaranteed to us that he will settle all the amount. We already deposited Mr. Pizarras’ check which we will receive back after three days then we will file a legal case against him. We had given him time in order to settle the full amount.”

The morning of the PBA delegation’s flight back to Manila, Salud and Tolentino met to find a way to pay Gulf Air which threatened to cancel the bookings because of Pizarras’ failure to settle the travel bill. They agreed to put up an amount acceptable to Gulf Air just to reconfirm the flights. Gulf Air subsequently cleared the departure of the PBA staff and the Talk ‘N’ Text, B-Meg and Barangay Ginebra teams.

Unfortunately, Talk ‘N’ Text got left behind as Gulf Air cancelled the bookings of the team except for coach Chot Reyes and assistant coach Jamike Jarin whose flights were separately arranged. Reyes would’ve stayed behind but it was too late to return his boarding pass and fish out his luggage.

Tolentino said she has requested a “history report” from Gulf Air to explain the cancellation of the bookings at the last minute. She assured Salud that the travel agency did not cancel the tickets as she is the only authorized person to execute changes in ticket bookings. Tolentino said the amount that Salud advanced will be reimbursed by Dana Express when Pizarras pays up.

 “We did not earn anything from this event and it’s a big loss for us,” said Tolentino. “You have done a favor for my agency but we also did a favor for your team.”

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Meanwhile, PBA legal counsel Melvin Mendoza has sent a letter to Gulf Air country manager Ritchie Tuano requesting an explanation for the cancellation of the Talk ‘N’ Text bookings.

 “The (Talk ‘N’ Text) passengers were able to arrive in Dubai in accordance with their confirmed bookings,” wrote Mendoza. “However, when they checked in at the Dubai airport for their return trip, they were advised by Gulf Air representatives that their bookings were cancelled.

 “Approximately 60 other passengers who belonged to the PBA delegation with similar bookings did not encounter any problems in their return trip. As a result of the foregoing unfortunate incident, the (Talk ‘N’ Text) passengers were compelled to purchase tickets at their own expense from other available airlines at different schedules. Some of them either had to wait for long hours at the airport or had to spend an extra night at hotels, similarly incurring additional expenses.”

It’s been nearly two weeks since Mendoza sent the letter and to this day, the PBA is still awaiting Gulf Air’s reply. Is the disturbing silence an indication of Gulf Air’s guilt?    

 “The PBA staff checked in four hours before departure to ensure that the bookings will not be cancelled,” said Salud. “There was no problem with this check-in and we were not advised that the other groups would encounter any problems when they checked in. We were surprised to find out that the Talk ‘N’ text group which went to the check-in counters together with two other teams at least three hours before the scheduled departure was not allowed to check in.”

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Unless Gulf Air comes up with an acceptable explanation, the PBA will go to court to seek redress. The Talk ‘N’ Text group that was bumped off had to spend about P1 Million for one-way tickets on three separate flights to return home. From all indications, Gulf Air must assume responsibility for the snafu and pay for damages aside from expenses incurred in finding alternate options to leave Dubai.

The stranded Talk ‘N’ Text group was composed of Bong Ravena, Nash Racela, Josh Reyes, Rogelio Tulabot, Dexter Aseron, Rolando Lozano and players Ranidel de Ocampo, Harvey Carey, Ryan Reyes, Aaron Aban, Mark Yee, Gilbert Lao, Ali Peek, Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams, Emmerson Oreta, Jason Castro, Larry Fonacier, Maurice Baker and Rich Alvarez.

The three teams also had to cough up about P60,000 each before the Dubai hotel they stayed in cleared their check-out. Pizarras was supposed to take care of the hotel bills but ran out, leaving the teams holding the bag. That amount has been added to Pizarras’ list of payables to the PBA.

Salud is now exploring ways for Pizarras to reimburse the PBA and also determining the liability of Gulf Air. He won’t rest until every last peso is accounted for and returned to those who advanced money to cover costs that should’ve been shouldered by Pizarras. The PBA was embarrassed by this mess and Salud is going after the culprits for payback with an unrelenting resolve.