INQUIRER Sports

THE SUPREME COURT recently ruled that the professional Philippine Basketball Association is liable to pay the Games and Amusements Board about P3.45 million representing the government agency’s 3 percent share of gross income from the radio-TV coverage of PBA games for 2002.

Under Presidential Decree No. 871, the Supreme Court said the games of the PBA and other professional leagues shall be under the control and supervision of the GAB.

The PBA had earlier filed a petition to reverse a July 28, 2005 Court of Appeals decision in favor of the GAB. The CA dismissed the petition.

Last Friday, I called the office of GAB chair Eric Buhain to get an update. Unfortunately, he was not available.

So I next asked the GAB’s basketball division chief, Dioscoro Bautista, for the latest development. Instead, he referred me to administration division head Ofelina Artugue.

“We are still awaiting the official Supreme Court decision,” said Artugue. “The funds are intact and in escrow at Equitable Bank.”

Earlier, Willie Marcial, the PBA media bureau chief and special assistant to commissioner Sonny Barrios, was quoted as saying: “The funds could be withdrawn once the Supreme Court decides on the case.”

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Following the High Court ruling, it is best for the PBA to settle its obligations to the GAB, undoubtedly one of the poorest government agencies. It is the PBA’s moral and legal responsibility to honor its commitment.

When I first broke out the story some years back, my initial reaction was one of disbelief. I never thought that the PBA, composed of some of the country’s influential and richest corporations, would be in arrears with its payment to the GAB.

The problem started in 1999, when the PBA failed to pay the GAB’s 3 percent share of income from the radio and television coverage of PBA games. The league’s commissioner at that time was the late Jun Bernardino, with Sonny Barrios as his deputy.

Due to poor health, Bernardino resigned and was succeeded in 2003 by Noli Eala. On the other hand, the GAB chair then was Eduardo Villanueva.

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According to the PBA, it was unable to pay the GAB’s 3 percent share due to the failure of Viva Vintage Sports Inc. (VVSI), then the radio-television arm of the league, to pay its franchise fee for the exclusive rights to cover the games.

Vintage Sports had initially paid the PBA the franchise fee. In turn, the league paid the GAB the 3 percent share. But starting in November 2001, Vintage was unable to pay the PBA, and the league failed to comply with its obligations.

To resolve the money problem, the GAB and the PBA brought the matter to the Office of the President for adjudication. In 2004, Malacañang rendered a decision supporting the GAB.

Unhappy with the OP decision, the PBA filed a petition before the Court of Appeals questioning the OP verdict.

The issue was then elevated to the Supreme Court.

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Since its launch in 1975, the PBA has fallen on hard times and is suffering from below-par gate receipts.

I gathered that even the network doing the league’s TV coverage has reportedly been feeling the profit pinch.

To this end, network owners have started reducing the salaries of their employees, including commentators and analysts, and requesting royalty discounts, among others.