What’s happening to Kia?

DURING the usual pompous birthday celebration of People’s Champ Manny Pacquiao in GenSan last Dec. 17,  he reportedly closed a deal with PBA legend Kenneth Duremdes, who was one of his guests.

Reports said Pacquiao offered Duremdes, a native of Marbel, the job of assistant coach Glenn Capacio, who was reportedly sacked, along with his two aides, by Kia Sorento management.

There were two schools of thought behind this unceremonious ousting: One, management didn’t feel that he had a sound long-range program for the team, and two, he kept accusing his players of game-fixing.

Because of this accusation, majority of the Sorento players, whose contracts are expiring at the end of this month, have been told not to expect a renewal.

If I were to go by the reports, I’d say it is a bleak scenario for Kia in the second conference, considering that there will only be about 2 to 3 players left in the lineup, one of them named Pacquiao.

Was there a way of verifying if all these talks are true, or at best, which of them are accurate?

* * *

I touched base with coach Glenn, but just as I expected, he kept mum.

“In due time, I’ll talk. In the meantime, I suggest you talk with team manager Erick Pineda or his assistant Joe Ramos, regarding my status,” Glenn said.

So I texted Joe Ramos requesting for a brief interview or a text explanation of Glenn’s status, but I never got an answer.

“They won’t answer you,” said a colleague. “How can you expect a team to tell you that the cause of all these bad publicity is because they’ve been remiss on their financial obligations to the team. For example, they don’t pay their players on time, perhaps even their coaching staff.”

“If you ask me, accusing the Kia players of game-fixing is downright ridiculous, not because they’re incorruptible but because game-fixers only fix players who belong to a championship caliber team. Not cellar dwellers.”

* * *

A new team is committed to play five years in the PBA, otherwise the Pl00-million bond, which they remitted upon their entry to the league, will be forfeited.

“What’s happening to Kia? Is the team disbanding?” I asked PBA Media Bureau Willie Marcial, hoping to be able to solve the Sorento jigsaw puzzle.

“No madam. The team is only revamping,” he said.

Curiously, the name of Joe Lipa, known for busting game-fixers, was mentioned as one of those being considered for the Kia coaching staff. What can I say? The plot thickens.

It’s been a month since the birthday of the 8-division world champ, and to this day, Duremdes is still waiting for that promised call from Team Pacquiao.