Seven PBA governors stand firm, urge Narvasa to resign

Incoming PBA chairman Ramoncito Fernandez of NLEX. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

The seven governors calling for Chito Narvasa’s ouster stood firm in their plea to have the PBA commissioner leave his post.

In a joint statement released Friday morning, the seven governors expressed their sadness that the issue has clearly drawn battle lines in what was once a united boardroom.

“Regrettably, Narvasa, in clinging to the position, is using the current situation to divide the Board to the detriment of the PBA and the public,” the statement read.

READ: Narvasa insists he’s ‘always ensured parity in all decisions’ 

“It pains us that in order to remove the heat from him, Narvasa conveniently uses other issues to divert the real situation that a majority of the Board including the public do not want his continued stay. With his continued defiance, there will be a situation that the PBA will not be able to operate since any act of the Commissioner needs the affirmative support of a majority of the Board which he regrettably doesn’t have.”

The governors then encouraged Narvasa just resign from his position.

“If the Commissioner really loves the PBA and the Public as he conveniently espouses, he may make the supreme sacrifice of voluntarily stepping down to prevent a division of the Board and stalled basketball operations,” the statement also read. “Maybe with his ultimate sacrifice the public will forget the past and give honor to his act of leaving the post.”

READ: Narvasa remains defiant: I’m fighting for principle 

The MVP bloc, spearheaded by TNT, NLEX, and Meralco, together with Alaska, Rain or Shine, Phoenix, and Blackwater filed a motion to no longer endorse the renewal of Narvasa’s term as the league commissioner in a special board meeting on Thursday.

The other five teams namely San Miguel, Ginebra, Star, GlobalPort, and Kia, meanwhile, threw their support behind Narvasa and insisted that he remains the commissioner in their own joint statement.

Later in the day, Narvasa called a press conference and said that he is willing to resign, but he wants the to be followed and for those calling for his ouster to explain what “loss of confidence is constituted.”

READ: SMC group stands by Narvasa, questions move by ‘renegade’ PBA governors

The anti-Narvasa side, meanwhile, said that they are not supporting his renewal simply to “prevent the futile exercise of one proposing his which needs eight affirmative votes, which obviously Narvasa will not get given the non-support of a greater majority.”

“Mr. Narvasa clearly knows that his term is on a yearly basis as this is contained in the Minutes of the Meeting of the Board as well as when he assumed the post of COO which has a term limit of one year.”