Scuttled plans? Annual board meeting reduced to sightseeing tour

LOS ANGELES—With three members—and possibly a fourth in the chair himself—absent, what was supposed to be a critical annual planning session of the PBA’s board of governors has now become a sightseeing tour.

Those who made the trip have started scheduling trips around this Southern Californian city starting Saturday as meetings have been shelved and planning for the calendar of the coming season put on hold.

A 30-strong delegation made up of representatives of San Miguel Beer, Star, Blackwater and Meralco and the Office of the Commissioner checked in at posh Hotel Sofitel along Beverly Boulevard late Friday night.

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This is the leanest such party recorded ever since the planning sessions abroad was first held more than a decade back, as board members have looked forward to this gathering for camaraderie and time to be with members of their respective families.

Barangay Ginebra’s Alfrancis Chua arrived hours before aboard a Cathay Pacific flight, while Erick Arejola of GlobalPort and Dickie Bachmann of Alaska flew in two days ago.

Former chairs Pato Gregorio of TNT KaTropa and Mamerto Mondragon of Rain or Shine and Phoenix Patroleum’s Raymund Zorilla begged off from joining the bulk of the delegation aboard a Philippine Airlines 777 jet on Friday night.

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Ramoncito Fernandez of NLEX, the incoming chair who will take over from Mikee Romero of GlobalPort, is supposed to come in on Nov. 14, but because of what has developed, will reportedly not be coming anymore.

Representatives belonging to two warring board factions have refused to give comment on the issue plaguing Asia’s first play-for-pay league: Will commissioner Chito Narvasa get a fresh term or not?

Trouble within the board started two weeks ago when a disgruntled group of seven teams headed by the three squads owned by tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan openly asked for the resignation of Narvasa.

The board was split—for the first time in the league’s 42-year history—when the San Miguel Corporation teams, together with GlobalPort and Kia, threw their full support behind Narvasa.

An impasse happened as both sides don’t have the required number of votes—eight—needed to unseat or name a new commissioner.

The 43rd Season opens on Dec. 17, and usually by this time, formats for the three conferences have already been determined, with schedules already released and height limits of imports already set.