Abueva issues public apology
Phoenix forward Calvin Abueva has made his first public apology since an indefinite suspension was handed to him last June by PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial.
In an Instagram video posted Saturday morning, Abueva apologized to the parties that he had affected or offended with his actions.
“I am asking for forgiveness for the things that I had done in the PBA. To Talk ‘N Text (TNT), Talk ‘N Text fans. To the Phoenix Fuel Masters management, the Phoenix fans, and most especially to the Board of Governors, to Commissioner Willie Marcial, to Bobby Ray Parks and [girlfriend] Maika Rivera, and then to the PBA family,” Abueva said in Filipino.
“I am asking for forgiveness for the things I have done. I shall continue what I have started,” he added.
Abueva has missed over four months for Phoenix for his several on-court incidents, including making an obscene hand gesture against Blackwater guard Ray Parks Jr.’s girlfriend Maika Rivera, and a wild clothesline against Commissioner’s Cup Best Import Terrence Jones weeks later.
Those offenses also cost him 70,000 pesos. Abueva was also accused of being involved in ligang labas games, or games not under the supervision of the PBA.
The 31-year-old had recently been allowed by the league to return to practice, although there is still no concrete timetable laid out for the lifting of his suspension. —
medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships for men’s boxing. Along with EJ Obiena who recently qualified for the pole vault event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, they have become the latest sports heroes in this basketball-mad country of ours. With these latest wins, I was expecting the bashers to come out with guns ablazing anew asking for MVP and the country’s top businessmen about their support for other sports. Surprisingly, the bashing was quiet. Nobody screamed nor yelled. Why? Because MVP does support other sports. Through the MVP Sports Foundation, MVP has provided support for sports such as boxing, gymnastics, weightlifting, skating, badminton, cycling, football, rugby, golf, taekwondo and others. Yes, I may sound biased, but after having gotten to know the MVPSF a bit more since the start of the year, I’ve also gotten to appreciate even more how basketball is not the only sport the MVPSF supports. It wasn’t surprising to note that the MVPSF helped Caloy Yulo as he trained in Japan and competed in various gymnastics events. Boxing has always been supported by the MVPSF with MVP’s men managing the affairs of ABAP, the national sports governing body for amateur boxing. At a recent courtesy call made on MVP, Petecio and Yulo received a bonus of P1M each and brand new iPhones from Smart.
MVPSF President Al S. Panlilio released a timely statement. “The Filipino athlete will always have an ally in the MVP Sports Foundation. We know we have world class athletes and we know they can be the best in the world if they get the support they need.In less than 24 hours, two Filipino athletes were crowned as the best in the world with gymnast Carlos Yulo and boxer Nesthy Petecio. The MVPSF is proud to have played a part in their success and their victories only inspire us to continue our efforts towards getting our first Olympic Gold”.
And so the argument continues, or should it really? To me, there is no argument. In what sport can we win the first every Olympic gold medal? What sport should the country be focusing on for support? It’s true that we’ll never win a world