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CHANGES in policies are pregnant with benefits. But they also have downsides. Let’s take the case of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

The league has just lost its commissioner due to what I consider an offshoot of some governors’ pettiness. For making a decision that was not actually contrary to any PBA law and, therefore, not inimical to the league’s interests overall, seven misguided governors mounted a rebellion against Chito Narvasa.

They failed— meaning, they weren’t able to oust the commissioner. But, of course! They lacked one vote to kick Narvasa out of his post.

Don’t they not read the PBA by-laws at all?

But in an admirable display of sheer self-esteem and delicadeza, Narvasa ousted himself right on the first day of the season’s opening.

For Narvasa doing that, he might have done a veiled heroism: Saving the PBA from further public harm, image-wise, triggered by the seven governors’ childish act of wanting Narvasa out on illogical grounds.

Anyways, it’s all water under the bridge now, as the cliché goes.

Willie Marcial is OIC pending the appointment of Narvasa’s successor, who will have to contend with Narvasa’s record of earning all-time revenues for the league in his two years as PBA helmsman in 20152017.

In his new post, Marcial has introduced two new policies: The creation of a “Trade Body” and a community service for errant players.

The five-man “Trade Body” headed by Marcial is supposedly aimed to cut the Commissioner’s power of approving playertrades by his lonesome.

That is one way of saying let us clip another crucial power of the commissioner, which could never have happened during the time of the eminent Leo Prieto, the PBA’s founding father.

You lessen the commissioner’s grip of the league, you could end up with a crippled commissioner sooner than expected.

But the community service for players is fine.

Instead of suspending players for rough play—it would hurt their teams’ more than the team’s wayward wards—make them do barangay work like street-sweeping, collecting garbage or playing basketball with pupils in their PE classes.

Increasing fines on erring cagers is also much better than slapping game suspensions.

Common sense pa more, please?