Merger spoiled by speculation

Petro Gazz has taken a leave of absence from PVL and it’s not certain when the four-time league champion will be back. The withdrawal could’ve been averted if only PVL allowed Petro Gazz to merge with the Nxled Chameleons. Apparently, there was resistance from PVL higher-ups to give the go-signal for the merger because of speculation that Petro Gazz players with expired contracts would be herded to Nxled.

As it turned out, the suspicion was unfounded. At the end of last year, 13 Petro Gazz players’ contracts had lapsed and only three – MJ Phillips, Jules Tolentino and AA Adolfo – were with live deals. Among the 13 players, Chie Saet and Remy Palma moved to Strong Group Athletics while Blove Barbon and Aiza Maizo-Pontillas signed with Galeries Tower Highrisers. With Petro Gazz’ leave of absence, PVL has declared Phillips, Tolentino and Adolfo as free agents. Negotiations are ongoing to hire the remaining Petro Gazz free agents with several teams expressing interest in the obvious standouts, in particular Phillips and Brooke Van Sickle.

A source said what brought about the talk of a merger was a business proposition initiated by Petro Gazz to market Nxled and Akari products through its network of gas stations. Petro Gazz was established in 2012 initially as a distributor of imported fuels in Subic, Zambales and expanded into retailing in 2017. Petro Gazz has since opened over 180 stations serving thousands of consumers nationwide. To promote its brand, Petro Gazz joined the PVL in 2018 and went on to bag four championships. This past campaign marked a milestone in Petro Gazz’ history as the franchise won two of the three PVL conferences. Its other PVL achievements were three runner-up finishes and two third placers. Overall, Petro Gazz landed on the podium in nine of 16 conferences.

“It made sense for Petro Gazz to merge with Nxled because of their business tie-up,” explained the source. “The idea was to share in operating the merged franchise with Nxled the surviving entity. While Petro Gazz would lose its identity, the concept was to still remain with PVL through the merger. Unfortunately, PVL rejected the proposal, leaving Petro Gazz no option but to file a leave of absence.”

Despite its withdrawal, Petro Gazz advised PVL president Ricky Palou in a letter that it “will continue to support the sport by focusing on nurturing the next generation of volleyball talents (and) as part of this initiative, will support the volleyball programs of Nxled and other PVL teams and may recommend its players, coaches and staff guided by its winning culture and core values.”

PVL will not only lose Petro Gazz this coming season but also Chery Tiggo, bringing down its cast from 12 to 10. Of the 10 teams, only two are “independents,” Capital1 and Galeries Tower. The others are four pairs of sister teams – Farm Fresh and Zus Coffee of Frank Lao’s Strong Group Athletics, PLDT and Cignal of the MVP Group, Creamline and Choco Mucho of Rebisco and Akari and Nxled owned by CEO Chris Tiu. Although there is a shortage of “independents,” the competition is intense, fierce and lively as sister teams never show a semblance of holding back friendly fire.