MPBL, GAB team up to thwart game-fixing, 'ligang labas' incidents

MANILA, Philippines – The MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) and the GAB (Games and Amusements Board) will work together for the betterment of the league and local basketball in general.

GAB Chairman Atty Richard Clarin and MPBL Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes made this commitment on Sunday during the welcome dinner tendered by the league for the 29 member teams competing in the ongoing OKBet-MPBL Fifth Season and its sponsors at the Palacio de Maynila in Malate.

According to Duremdes, apart from providing livelihood and promoting basketball at the grassroots level, MPBL CEO and Founder Manny Pacquiao intends to protect the players and teams from unscrupulous elements.

Clarin, who served as the keynote speaker of the event, concurred and said the country's regulatory and supervisory body for professional sports is bound to protect the integrity of the sport and the MPBL.

Reiterating the 3Ps (Promote, professionalize and Protect) advocacy of the agency, Clarin warned the players from getting involved in game-fixing as well as playing in Ligang Labas without informing their mother teams, the MPBL and the GAB, otherwise their licenses will either be suspended or blacklisted.

He added that the GAB and the MPBL will be conducting random drug testing.

Earlier, MPBL executive Joe Ramos thanked the league's major sponsors led by OKBet, which was represented by Robert Chen, Anta, Xtreme, Suzuki Philippines, Molten and Buracai de Laiya.

MPBL Operations head Emmer Oreta, on the other hand, reconfirmed that the league will be taking a break from August 25 to September 10 to give way to the 2023 FIBA World Cup the Philippines will be co-hosting with Japan and Indonesia.

Pacquiao was unable to attend the event he initiated after being hit by jet lag following his arrival from the United States.