INQUIRER Sports

GAME TODAY (Araneta Coliseum)
6 p.m.?San Miguel vs Barangay Ginebra

MANILA, Philippines?After saying they were sorry and noting they were not able to lay a hand on a heckler Friday night, Danny Ildefonso and Marc Pingris were still slapped a one-game suspension and fined a total of P40,000 by the PBA Saturday.

Ildefonso was hit harder with a P30,000 penalty while Pingris was fined P10,000 for charging at a ringside fan after helping San Miguel to a 95-78 victory over Barangay Ginebra and a 1-1 tie in their Motolite PBA Fiesta Cup title series at the Araneta Coliseum.

Both will be out of the San Miguel roster when the Beermen try to break that deadlock with the defending champion Gin Kings today also at the Big Dome.

Commissioner Renauld ?Sonny? Barrios? decision was a landmark of sorts considering that less than two months ago, he didn?t suspend Sta. Lucia?s Marlou Aquino, who was accused by a fan of mauling him.

The latest incident involved Ferdinand Nervadez, who was unscathed because of cooler heads intervening fast, though witness accounts after the game clearly pointed to him as cursing a number of Beermen.

?At first, I saw him (Nervadez) flashing the dirty finger and cursing at J-Wash (Jay Washington) with under two minutes left,? Ildefonso, while walking towards his SUV, told a handful of scribes Friday night in Filipino.

?I was shocked when near the end of the game, I was the one he was cursing at and I was the one getting the dirty finger,? Ildefonso, who was fined more since it was his second incident with a fan, added. ?I am sorry for what happened, I lost my head.

?I was provoked, and being a professional, I should have kept my poise.?

Pingris, whom Barrios has taken a liking to for showing compassion with needy fans, went immediately inside the press room while reporters were still trying to beat their respective deadlines to also issue his apology.

?I shouldn?t have done that,? he said also in Filipino. ?I just hope that whatever fine I get be given to charity instead.?

?This incident is nowhere near than that of the father-player (Aquino) who was concerned for the safety and well-being of his minor children,? Barrios told the Inquirer in a phone interview.

?I am not denying that the fan in the Aquino case was hurt,? Barrios added. ?But I have concluded that it (the physical harm) was not by Marlou. That much I had established because of eyewitnesses whose testimony to me was firm.?

The Filipino-Indian fan lodged a complaint in the Araneta Center docket of the Quezon City police, accusing Aquino of mauling him together with other Sta. Lucia supporters and officials immediately after a quarterfinal game against Burger King.

San Miguel team manager Hector Calma, a former superstar guard who also had his share of being heckled in his prime, said that his team will abide by the commissioner?s decision but sought better player security inside venues.

?Nasasaktan din ang mga players (players also get hurt) ng mga (by) hecklers, tao din ang mga yan, (they?re also human beings),? Calma told the Inquirer over the phone. ?It?s the job of the PBA to provide for better security to prevent these (hecklings).?