Probing the probers

Games and Amusement Board (GAB) chair Abraham Mitra must be shaking his head after seeing how the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup turned Philippine basketball into a circus.

Everybody is now jumping on the issue. Sports commissioner Ramon Fernandez already ordered a deeper probe to unmask the personalities behind the league while Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio warned that he would not hesitate to impose sanctions if he finds out that the VisMin Cup is involved in illegal activities.

The VisMin Cup is shrouded in mystery. Fernandez, a revered figure in Cebu basketball, swore that the name of VisMin Cup chief operating officer Rocky Chan doesn’t ring a bell.

He also doesn’t know who owns some of the Visayan teams like Siquijor, Bohol, Dumaguete and Tabogon.

So if a true-blue Cebuano, basketball legend, FIBA Asia gold medalist and founding Metropolitan Basketball Association commissioner like Fernandez doesn’t know the personalities behind the VisMin Cup, then, how did it secure a professional license from GAB?

Credible authorities like Fernandez and Panlilio should also probe GAB to make sure that there’s nothing more to this circus than flying elephants, rolling seals and jumping lions.

Obtaining a professional license from GAB isn’t supposed to be easy.

Aside from presenting Securities and Exchange Commission registration, a league that wishes to turn pro must also submit documents from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, profiles of board members, mission-vision statement and, for good measure, game tapes to prove that it is really existing.

It is no different from securing a professional driving license from the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

Before somebody who wants to drive for a living can secure a professional license, he has to pass the written and practical exams, submit the result of his drug test, and have his record checked if he has cases of reckless driving.

Did the GAB require VisMin Cup organizers to submit all those documents before granting them with professional status and, in effect, the green light to hold a tournament at the height of this raging pandemic?

Nope, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that GAB is directly involved in this mess. All I’m saying is that being the government’s regulatory body for professional sports, GAB should have carefully studied, deliberated and verified the application of a fledgling league like the VisMin Cup before being granted with a professional status. Mitra should have carefully combed through the profiles of the key personalities like board members, team owners, team managers and players to make sure that they deserve to be granted with professional status similar to what those in the Philippine Basketball Association are enjoying.

But based on what we have witnessed in the game between the ARQ Builders Lapu-Lapu Heroes and Siquijor Mystics, it appears that GAB slept on its job and issued professional licenses to clowns who wouldn’t buy a basket even if a shotgun is already aimed at their faces.

The VisMin Cup is shrouded in mystery.

Again, back to my analogy, it’s like the LTO giving a professional driving license to a mere pedicab driver without first checking his driving skills, mental and physical capacity, health history and previous records.

And when this pedicab driver, who pretends to be a seasoned road warrior, figures in a massive accident while driving a 16-wheeler truck, all the LTO will do is to revoke his license without first checking how he obtained it in the first place.

That’s why there’s really a need to take a closer look at what happened in the VisMin Cup.

For a league that is barely two weeks into its existence, being involved in rigging of games is a mortal sin. It’s not only bad for the league per se, but it also tarnishes the reputation of basketball and Philippine sports in general, especially in this time and age when everything is already being shown in social media.

The basketball circus that happened before our very eyes on a fateful Wednesday night is just a tip of a massive iceberg of controversy. There’s definitely something behind those bungled passes, lazy defense, clanked shots and botched plays.

Mitra said they have already launched an investigation.

But it’s not enough.

Credible authorities like Fernandez and Panlilio should also probe GAB to make sure that there’s nothing more to this circus than flying elephants, rolling seals and jumping lions.