Gilas manpower problem a pity–Mon Fernandez

“HISTORY is repeating itself, at nakakalungkot (and it’s sad).”

That was the reaction of basketball legend Ramon Fernandez yesterday when the Inquirer sought his comment on the reported pullout of several PBA superstars from the Gilas Pilipinas national pool that will be gunning for an Olympic berth later this year.

Fernandez, a four-time PBA MVP whose fifth stint in a Philippine team uniform in 1990 came 16 years after his fourth, said today’s professional players are “probably torn between preserving their health and sacrificing for country.”

“That’s a difficult choice to make, sometimes,” said Fernandez, who played in the 1973 Youth, the 1973 ABC, 1974 Asian Games and 1974 World Championship quintets.

He said this latest development is a letdown for the country, especially after the Filipinos finished second in the last Fiba Asia Championship in 2013 and then won a first World Cup game in Seville, Spain, last year.

Fernandez compared the predicament of people behind Gilas to that of the defunct Basketball Association of the Philippines in 1974, when the basketball body had a difficult time making standouts in the commercial league known as Micaa to play for the national team.

“The only thing different this time is that MVP (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Manny V. Pangilinan) has multiple PBA teams, and (Lito) Puyat (the late BAP president) did not have teams in the Micaa,” he said.

Fernandez also said that politics could be playing a big part in the formation of the national team. He noted that many of the players who have reportedly backed out of Gilas belong to the San Miguel Corp. group, considered a rival of MVP’s PLDT group.

“Whether that’s fair to say or not, I don’t know,” he said. “But people will speculate on that and you can’t stop them from saying that.”

The biggest name to withdraw from the national pool is a Fernandez protégé, two-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo, who said he has a foot injury (plantar fasciaitis).

Paul Lee of Rain or Shine and Marcio Lassiter, Fajardo’s teammate at San Miguel Beer,   are in the United States attending to their ailing mothers, while Marc Pingris of Star went to France to be with his French father.

Only 16 from the supposed 26-player list of national coach Tab Baldwin now remain, with Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio of Barangay Ginebra also backing out for different reasons.

Aguilar will undergo surgery to repair a badly damaged left pinky, while Tenorio begged off because of fatigue.

“During my time, it was totally different,” said Fernandez. “I picked up the sport not to play commercially, but to be able to play for flag and country. For me, the national team is the most special thing.”