MANILA, Philippines—National coach Yeng Guiao scheduled his team’s first practice session for the year at The Arena in San Juan City on Sunday, but of the 14 players in his lineup, only eight showed up.

Yeng said Asi Taulava and Ryan Reyes were nursing injuries, James Yap was on vacation in Bacolod, Kelly Williams was in Baguio, while Jared Dillinger and Ranidel de Ocampo were in Singapore with the Tropang Texters.

Yeng couldn’t confirm if the trip was part of Talk ’N Text’s bonus package for having qualified for the semifinal round of the PBA-KFC Philippine Cup.

Starting next month, Yeng said he would be holding two to three practice sessions a week.

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While I couldn’t be sure that the Singapore trip was a bonus for the Texters, there is talk that the Talk ’N Text management will have a lot of explaining to do when they return from their post-Yuletide jaunt.

They could even be fined for violating a league rule which prohibits a member ballclub from playing with a non-PBA team while the conference is ongoing.

I called the PBA office about this and I was told that, indeed, the Texters will be sanctioned “if they played against another team” in Singapore.

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Guilty or not, paying a fine—even in the amount of hundreds of thousands of pesos—should be a drop in the bucket for the Texters.

I was told that the Texters lost to the Singapore Slingers, a ballclub which saw action in the NBL, in overtime Tuesday. They will play another game on Wednesday.

The Texters are scheduled to fly back to Manila Thursday.

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Back to Yeng, he was expected to finalize an agreement with Burger King Tuesday night, a few hours before deadline.

League squad Air21 will be known as Burger King, a subsidiary of the Lina Group of Companies, in February when the Bert Lina franchise returns for the import-laced second conference.

The setup isn’t very clear to me yet, but I understand that the Linas will continue to be the major stockholder in Burger King, with TNT’s Manny Pangilinan and Harbour Centre’s Mikee Romero as minor shareholders.

Mikee, though, is expected to head the board of Burger King and represent the company in the PBA board. He will also be assigned to run and manage the Lina franchise in the PBA.

The team will most likely be coached by Yeng—if plans do not miscarry.

Mikee’s alternate governor in the PBA board, the team manager and the assistant coaches will be named after the appointment of the head coach.

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US NCAA Division I cager Japeth Aguilar is expected to fly home in this May, after his graduation from the Western Kentucky University.

On the personal invitation of national coach Yeng Guiao, the 6-foot-9 former Blue Eagle is arriving with his father Peter, to try out with the national team.

A chronic injury has kept the cager on the bench for most of his collegiate stint. He has seen action in only two games this season.

According to his scribe-manager, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas project director Rajko Toroman is also interested in Japeth.

“Japeth is committed to Yeng’s team, but if he doesn’t make it, he will consider the offer from Toroman,” Japeth’s manager said.

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HOOPVINE: Guess what? Kenneth Duremdes and Makisig Network president Jacque Ruby just got their New Year wishes. Kenneth was officially appointed head coach of the Coke Tigers, while Jacque is going to be a father for the second time before the end of the year. “It’s an honor to coach the Tigers. Sana maka-perform ako nang maganda,” Kenneth said.