Retrogression, not progression
THE CREATION of the “Trade Body” is Willie Marcial’s first act as officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Philippine Basketball Association.
Marcial got the OIC job as the 12 PBA governors have yet to find a replacement for the resigned commissioner Chito Narvasa.
Narvasa left his post after registering record-revenue highs consistently for the league in his twoyear stint at the PBA helm.
Easily, he would have stayed after his contract had expired Dec. 31.
But Narvasa chose to leave to preserve unity within the PBA board, which got badly shaken when seven governors wanted Narvasa out.
Led by MVP’s governors at Meralco, TNT and NLEx, the breakaway governors to include those from Rain or Shine, Alaska, Blackwater and Phoenix based their oust-Narvasa rebellion on one Narvasa decision: Allow a trade that shipped the 6-foot-7 Fil-German Christian Standhardinger from Kia to San Miguel Beer.
It was an extremely petty reason that simply had no leg to stand on as Narvasa never broke any PBA law when he gave the green light to the trade.
For sure, Narvasa’s unceremonious exit will haunt the league, coming as it did because of an irrational, if not illogical, drivel by the Misguided 7.
But even as Marcial found himself thrust into a most uncomfortable post as OIC—he’s been the media relations man all his PBA life—he’s got no choice. Employees are like beggars: They can never be choosers.
As envisioned by Marcial, the vie-man “Trade Body” will now either allow or reject a playertrade. But Marcial will only vote to break a 2-2 tie.
Common sense tells us that the “Trade Body” is an offshoot of Narvasa’s decision sending Standhardinger to SMB.
It is an oblique way of saying the old trade policy is flawed and to avoid further “mistakes” by the commissioner in the future, the “Trade Body” is the answer.
But if only to set the record straight, Narvasa had done nothing wrong in his Standhardinger decision. It was as legitimate a verdict as it came within his province of jurisdiction.
Through all the 42 years of PBA existence, beginning with founding father Leo Prieto in 1975, a commissioner is given as much latitude to run the league his own way and style. Sadly, the league might have seen better days. A crippled commissioner looms in the horizons?