PH baseball squad in danger of missing SEA Games

MANILA—The Philippine baseball team just might strike out without taking a swing.

The Philippine Amateur Baseball Association has submitted a lineup to the Philippine Olympic Committee for the Indonesia Southeast Asian Games but that stint hit a snag after the association got “suspended” by the Philippine Sports Commission.

SEA Games deputy chief of mission Julian Camacho revealed this to the Inquirer yesterday.

PSC chair Richie Garcia and commissioner Chito Loyzaga didn’t reply to text messages but members of the national team also confirmed the teams’ disbanding.

“That’s something we have to discuss further because they got suspended by the PSC,” said Camacho.

Paba stakeholders decided last month to form an adhoc committee that will tweak the association’s outdated membership policies and election code.

The progress, however, stalled when Paba president Hector Navasero asked to stay in his position at least until after the SEA Games in November. Stakeholders like Baseball Philippines’ Leslie Suntay and Harbour Centre-Manila Sharks’ Richard Cruz refused to make that concession to Navasero, triggering a stalemate.