Uytengsu: Montreal rehiring speaks poorly of PBA

Alaska executive Wilfred Uytengsu. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Alaska team owner Wilfred Uytengsu Thursday said the reinstatement of the PBA’s resigned marketing head “speaks poorly of the PBA as a professional organization.”

Alaska was the only team that voted against the rehiring last Monday of Rhose Montreal, who had earlier resigned over allegations she falsified school records.

Uytengsu said the PBA board had asked his representative, Dickie Bachmann, to reconsider so that “Alaska won’t look bad in public.”

But Alaska, Uytengsu said, took the “moral high ground” and didn’t budge “because of the severity of the offense.”

“I think people know us well enough that that’s not who we are.”

Montreal resigned last week after she was found to have falsified records, making it appear she graduated from University of the Philippines. The school said Montreal is not in its roster of graduates.

Uytengsu, the PSA’s Executive of the Year, also questioned why the rehiring of Montreal became a board matter when it was supposed to be commissioner Chito Narvasa who should have decided on it.

“It’s disappointing, because now, effectively, we’re saying: ‘It’s OK,’” Uytengsu said. “This is nothing against Rhose personally, but there are repercussions for some actions.”