FILE – PBA player Paul Desiderio and Agatha Uvero during their engagement. CHOOKS TO GO PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – The PBA said it will not condone any form of domestic abuse after former UAAP courtside reporter Agatha Uvero accused her ex-partner and Blackwater player Paul Desiderio of physical and emotional abuse in a series of tweets on Wednesday.
The league released a statement hours after Uvero’s social media post, saying it will “will conduct an inquiry and hand down its findings and resolution as soon as the facts are clearly established.”
PBA statement re Paul Desiderio pic.twitter.com/HyS8e5u4Og
— PBA (@pbaconnect) July 13, 2022
“This league will not tolerate any form of domestic abuse. No matter the cause or circumstances, physical and psychological abuse of women, whether in the confines of marriage or not, is inexcusable,” PBA’s read the statement. “This report deserves to be given serious attention by both the ballclub concerned and the PBA itself.”
“We are confident that the Blackwater management will extend its full cooperation and assistance toward ensuring that a just determination is reached,” the PBA added.
Inquirer Sports has reached out to Desiderio and his camp and Uvero for comments but all parties have yet to respond as of posting.
Uvero, who announced last June 3 that she and Desiderio have parted ways, accused the Bossing guard of several violent acts such as punching, throwing, kicking, biting, and strangulation even when she was pregnant with their child.
“I really hate airing dirty laundry on social media, but I also don’t have it in me anymore to keep quiet just because I know that so many people empower this person and enable him to be the abuser he is. Like all of you, I have been nothing but a fan of this man, in fact, the #1 fan,” she wrote.
😞 I really didn't wanna do this but the threats have been difficult and I owe this to myself and to women out there… pic.twitter.com/acjRWLOscw
— Jean Agatha (@agathauvero) July 12, 2022
“In my desperate attempt to reinforce his good behavior, I always posted the highlights and the best of our relationship. As a go-getter, a woman with a strong personality, I couldn’t admit to myself that I had a lapse of judgment in this man who I defended too many people who told me to avoid. I’m swallowing my pride for my own safety and for my own accountability not to cover up for someone just because of love or fear.”
Uvero added that she talked to the University of the Philippines standout “so many times” and she claimed that her ex-fiance said, “that if his career goes down it’s my fault.”
“I’m done with your gaslighting, Paul. You kept telling me to do this and at the end of the day no one will side with me. I have proof, pictures, screenshots, if no one will side with me, I’ll accept it but I know the truth,” she said. “I am not perfect and I’ve had my own mistakes in this relationship but no matter how mad I was, if I was almost twice your height and weight, I wouldn’t hurt you like this.”
Desiderio is still recovering from an ACL injury he sustained last May 31, ruling him out for the rest of the PBA season.