MANILA, 20 December 2002 — Now a group of full-blooded Filipino players in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) are out in force to help purge the league of “fake” Fil-Ams.
While closing their own ranks, the PBA Players’ Association alleged that no less than 10 Fil-foreign players out of 25 playing for nine PBA teams have “fabricated” papers to be able to play in the pro league.
Appearing in an inquiry conducted by the Senate Committee on Games, Amusements and Sports chaired by Sen. Robert Barbers — who is launching a campaign to unmask alleged fake Fil-Ams — the local players appealed to senators to help them “purge” their ranks of the “Fil-shams”.
Barbers had earlier warned that players found falsifying their documents will be sent to their homeland regardless of their skill and popularity.
The players’ union has already turned over pieces of evidence to Barbers that would prove these Fil-foreign players falsified or tampered with documents for them to be declared Filipino citizens and therefore allowed to play in the PBA.
Alaska veteran Jojo Lastimosa, speaking on behalf of the players’ union, said: “We are not against Fil-Americans. If they really are Fil-Ams, they have the right to be here. But what we really want to get rid of are the fake ones who are depriving our local cagers the chance to pursue a career in the PBA.”
The players’ union promised to set up a screening committee of its own that would seriously look into the eligibility of incoming Fil-foreign cagers beginning next season.
Lastimosa said the committee would serve as a safety net from the possible influx of fake Fil-foreign players in the future.
“We don’t want to go back to square one whenever a questionable Fil-foreign cager comes along and plays in the PBA. So we’re going to come up with our own findings to safeguard the interests of the league and its players,” said the 38-year-old Lastimosa, who is set to retire next year.
Lastimosa claimed “about 10 of the 25 Fil-Ams are fake” He did not name them, though.
In a list submitted to Senators Barbers, John Osmena and Robert Jaworski, the local players identified the 25 Fil-foreign players as Jon Ordonio, John Arigo, Robert Duat and Ali Peek of Alaska, Danny Seigle, Nic Belasco and Dorian Pena of San Miguel, Noy Castillo and Andy Seigle of Purefoods, James Wallkvist and Eric Menk of Ginebra; Kenny Evans, Alex Crisano and Asi Taulava of Talk N’ Text, Rob Wainwright, Michael Hrabak, Anthony dela Cruz and Chris Jackson of Shell, William Antonio, Rudy Hatfield, Rafi Reavis and Jeffrey Cariaso of Coca-Cola, David Friedhof of FedEx and Mick Pennisi and Davon Harp of Red Bull.
The local players later added the name of Alex Compton, who is playing in the PBL, to the list.
Of the 10 teams seeing action in the PBA this season, only Sta. Lucia has no Fil-Am players.
Missing from the list were Mark Caguioa and Elmer Lago of Ginebra and Dwight Lago of San Miguel.
In the manifesto, the union said “Quite a number of the Fil-Am players nowadays have actually no roots nor traces of any Filipino birthright and lineage. As a matter of fact, some of them have already been deported in the past for their failure to prove their Filipino ancestry.
“They were even disowned by their alleged relatives, townmates and provincemates... Surprisingly, however, after the issues against them waned, they returned and played once more,” the players said in the manifesto.
Taulava was deported in 2000 but returned early this year to play for the Phone Pals.
The group claimed the “bogus” Fil-Am “faked” their birth documents so they could obtain working permits from the Department of Justice.
Under the rules of the PBA, only natural-born Filipinos or those who have Filipino ancestry as certified by the DOJ are allowed to play in the PBA as locals.
PBA commissioner Jun Bernardino, who was present in the hearing, claimed all Fil-foreign players currently playing in the PBA are well-documented, meaning their papers are in order.
Bernandino, however, expressed willingness to deport or take action against Fil-Ams found to have faked their documents.
He cited the case of Sonny Alvarado who was deported two years ago after it was discovered that he was not of Filipino descent.
Alvarado suited up for Tanduay and playing alongside with Menk, who was later traded to Ginebra before the Tanduay franchise was sold to FedEx this year.
The Senate is also looking into allegations of special privileges to Fil-foreign players as against homegrown basketball players.
Lastimosa said the fake Fil-Ams deprive local players of the chance to play for choice teams while adding these dubious Fil-Ams also receive bigger privileges than local players.
Lastimosa said the proliferation of the fake Fil-Ams deprive promising players from the PBL and various universities of the “opportunity to reach their dream of becoming professional basketball players.”
He explained that local players have been displaced by the “fakes” because Fil-Am players have become the preference of basketball teams due to their towering height, resistance, agility and physique.
Lastimosa’s group also said Fil-Am players are given bigger perks by their mother teams.
He alleged Fil-Ams receive higher salaries, bigger food and clothing allowances, free housing accommodations and even free transportation with matching personal drivers.
Owners and managers of the 10 PBA teams acknowledged the privileges but denied that they are given exclusively to Fil-Foreign players.
The 14-year veteran Lastimosa, however, explained that “we are not envious of the Fil-Ams receiving perks.”
He clarified they are not also complaining about the perks and privileges given to the Fil-Ams, saying: “We are not complaining. Their benefits are given depending on their respective abilities.”
But Senator Robert Jaworski, himself a PBA superstar with whom Lastimosa had some volatile moments on the court while playing against each other on the hardcourt, said local players should not be overly sensitive about the perks given to Fil-foreign players, adding this issue “could be addressed and settled quietly among themselves without any controversy. The players and mother teams could discuss these during their meetings.”
Jaworski urged the players and his colleagues to focus on the proliferation of bogus Fil-Ams instead of the alleged preferential treatment accorded to the latter.
“We must not focus on petty things like these complaints about the perks given to Fil-Ams. Even our local players are given the same perks if they perform well,” Jaworski said.
Nine Fil-foreign players were named to the RP team that placed fourth in the Busan Asian Games last October.
The 25 Fil-foreign players have already submitted documents to prove their Filipino lineage to the Senate.
Every document submitted by these Fil-Ams will undergo scrutiny from the Senate.
Already in the hands of Barbers are birth certificates of the players, as well as the papers and other pertinent documents of their parents top attest to the authenticity of their claims being partly Filipino.
Although he admitted during the initial investigation the Senate could not dictate on the PBA, Barbers said he will go after players, who managed to enter the PBA by means of submitting fraudulent documents from the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation and the Department of Justice.
