MANILA, Philippines — Thirdy Ravena and Isaac Go dodged sanctions despite violating government-imposed quarantine measures after playing 5-on-5 basketball in a private gym in San Juan last week.
But the two Gilas Pilipinas prospects didn’t totally escape scot-free at the hands of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
“Wala kaming iniiisip na penalty o fine,” said SBP executive director Sonny Barrios during Tuesday’s PSA Forum.
(We’re not thinking about giving them a penalty or fine.)
Instead, Barrios said Ravena and Go were each reminded by SBP president Al Panlilio and director for operations Butch Antonio to make a good account of themselves and be of good examples.
“Definitely napagsabihan sila ni president Panlilio at ni sir Butch na itigil na yung ginagawa niyong hindi ayon sa regulasyon. Nakakahiya tayo,” added Barrios, who was joined by Antonio in the weekly webcast aired live on Facebook.
(They were definitely told by president Panlilio and sir Butch to stop doing things that aren’t in compliance with regulations. We’re embarrassing ourselves.)
Ravena and Go along with Barangay Ginebra forward Japeth Aguilar and Rain or Shine rookie Adrian Wong among others were caught on video playing in a private gym.
Aguilar and Wong were fined P20,000 each by the PBA and ordered to undergo swab testing.
Although the PBA already has the go-signal from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to return to practice in a limited capacity while observing necessary health protocols, participating in a 5-on-5 game remains prohibited under general community quarantine (GCQ).