Salud running for public office?

LOOKS  like just a  few people believed the reason PBA commissioner Chito Salud gave when he recently announced that he was quitting his post.

According to Salud, whose late father Rudy was also commissioner decades ago, he just gave himself a tenure of five years in this job. After this, he will step down to give way to a new commissioner with fresh ideas, more vigor and  more enthusiasm.

In so many words, that’s what the outgoing commissioner said in his farewell speech about two weeks ago when he formally announced that he was stepping down at the end of the 2015 season.

But how come that to this day,  people in the PBA community are still speculating on probable causes that led to his resignation? They just could not believe that anyone would give up such a coveted job that is well-paying, glamorous, high-profile and has many perks.

The popular notion is he may have been offered an executive position in an oil company, from which he could build a stable lifetime career.  After all, Salud’s background is really corporate, government service, and the only involvement he has with organized sports is through his father, who was also into boxing and horse racing.

There are a number who are inclined to believe that he was pressured to resign, pointing out his propensity to favor certain teams, which they say came to the fore during the draw for this season’s first draft pick.

They also say his love of casinos may have been questioned.

“Nothing of the sort,” PBA chair Pato Gregorio was the first to brush off such innuendoes. “He wasn’t saying it in concrete terms, but the commissioner has been talking of stepping down as early as last year.”

Gregorio said the board has not discussed a possible replacement. Personally, he does not have a candidate in mind.

“I don’t have candidates.  As chairman,  I think it will not look good if I recommend. As of now, there are no frontrunners. The criteria the board will come up with will be very important,” Gregorio said.

On Feb.  26,  the board of PBA governors will meet for a brainstorming session regarding the search for a new commissioner.

“Exchange of ideas  pa  lang,” Gregorio said.

The frontrunners may be requested to present a five-year plan for the league, since the board is reportedly inclined to choose a marketing man. The list of candidates is growing longer and longer by the day.

The other day,  a colleague said he was going to share valuable information.

“I think I just found out the real reason why commissioner Salud resigned. A high-ranking executive in our firm, who used to be in politics, said Chito is running for congressman in a district of Makati in next year’s elections. He said Chito has been planning to run since 2007 but something always comes up to derail his plan. After his highly successful stint as PBA commissioner, he probably decided that the time is now,” my source said.