Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) Inc.

Christmas is here, but at what cost is Pride and Dignity?

12/17/2020

When I visited the heartland of the Philippines, the Masbate province, I was met by enthusiastic loyal followers. Until today, they remain steadfastly in their support of the BAP.

December 17, 2020
Christmas is here, but at what cost is Pride and Dignity?
By: Graham C. Lim

Happiness is when one is free from any suffering and living in peace.

Loneliness is when friends turn their backs against you and leave you in the pits even when you are already down and out.

Pride has a crazy way to behave irrationally but dignity in a principled person does not hesitate in good or bad times. Faith is undiminished and righteousness is never compromised.

When I sing to one of my favorite Frank Sinatra’s songs, “Let Me Try Again,” I feel consoled in that, it affords me the hope to continue my journey in life while numbing the noisiness of the outside world. It gives me the strength to preserve my dignity without compromising my life principles no matter how uncertain is the world we now live in.

Sinatra echoes the following words in his immortal song:

I know I said that I was leaving,
But I just couldn’t say good-bye.
It was only self-deceiving
To walk away from someone who
Means everything in life to you.
You learn from every lonely day
I’ve learned and I’ve come back to stay.
Let me try again; Let me try again.

As Secretary-General of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) in exile, some greedy officials in the basketball community continue to harass me through their subalterns, seeking to stop me by all means from returning to my land of birth after eight years of forced exile brought about my participation in the local sports scene.

Dirty money is overflowing. It is being offered to people out to work for my return to the Philippines by corrupt and insidious sports officials out to derail my return at all costs.

And it appears the devil’s hands are in motion for justice remains elusive until now.

Pride is not an answer to suffering. Those people who have benefited financially from my suffering and hardship are much worse than the castrated animals.

Personal gain from somebody’s dire situation is so inhumane. It hits one in the guts when his dignity is being trampled in the name of the almighty peso.

That Justice is not for sale is the universal credo. But in reality, it is not. And in my case, it is not.

After eight long years, there are still some unconscionable people who continue to wish me ill and sell their souls in exchange for monetary gains. So inhumane they are in their insatiable thirst for money and power.

The BAP was its target and its Secretary-General was its victim. Power was usurped by its organizational rival in return for material considerations and in conspiracy with the old, gullible International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Secretariat that was decimated by the loss of two key members in the past two years, Patrick Baumann and Borislav Stankovic. Bob Elphinston remains from the Three Stooges but he may be on the way out as the new FIBA hierarchy now tries to regain its tarnished image, and hopefully turn away from the remaining leftovers of the old regime.

That the BAP was illegally ousted from the FIBA in favor of the SBP, unilaterally setting aside the provisions in the 2007 Bangkok Agreement, was the handiwork of Baumann and company, who were wined and dined in the country before settling the issue in favor of the SBP for millions of reasons.

I am a person who respects institutions that have legal rules to stand on. I am supported by many respectable personalities, from friends to members of the associations, schools and universities clubs, and league-organizations from all over the country who have not been tempted by the color of the money and have steadfastly remained loyal to the BAP in the purity of its objectives.

“The evil that men do they sell their soul to the devil; the good that men do they keep their dignity and principles intact.”

For those people that continue to wish ill of me, it won’t be long before the long arms of Universal Karma catch up with you. That I can guarantee in the name of Justice.

To my genuine friends and loyal associates, a Merry Christmas to all of you!

There’s no turning back but only “One More Try” in my life narrative and God willing, there will not only be peace and happiness for me and my family, but also Justice.

Before the altar of Justice, I guarantee you that my dignity and principles will remain intact until I breathe my last.

Upon my release from prison, I was overjoyed by the greetings from many followers, giving a speech to enliven their spirit despite the evil deeds of my adversaries who sought to destroy the BAP as a national basketball federation. My advice: Greed and inhumanity by the evildoers will be always tormented no matter their stature and financial status. Ex-Olympian and National skipper Orly Bauzon (lower right in green shirt), who passed away this year, listens attentively as I make statements.

Just for the love of basketball, I was sent to jail, not once but twice. In the photo was the tiny and poorly-ventilated room that I lived in during my seven-month imprisonment at Camp Bagong Diwa from 2009-2010. My first imprisonment came in 2006.

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Letter address to FIBA president Hamane Niang regarding sharing my 'experiences' & 'ideas'!

7/31/2020

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FIBA President, Hamane Niang (Mali), from 2019-2023

Letter address to FIBA president Hamane Niang regarding sharing my 'experiences' & 'ideas'!

July 31, 2020

Mr. Hamane Niang
President, FIBA

Dear Mr. President,

Good day!

In your letter dated June 12, 2020, address to all FIBA members and followers, you sought for the more unified global basketball community.

First, your wish for friendship and equality with member associations from different continents is most welcomed and a good start rather for so long as it is not merely a publicity stunt, which was the case in the past two-and-a-half decades under the incompetent leadership of Patric Baumann and Borislav Stankovic, who both are now answerable to the Lord Almighty.

Their leadership of FIBA was based on political patronage and not on an even playing field as the two always gravitated to rich personages from the association for financial considerations.

Their lack of sincerity and appreciation of views and opinions that are contrary to there was very evident in my experience with them, specifically in the case of the Philippines, when the FIBA suspended the traditional Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) in 2005 as the country’s national basketball federation then later ousted in the late 2009s in favor of a fledgling group headed by a telecommunication tycoon in blatant violation of the Bangkok Agreement (attached) that was even witnessed by Baumann.

I sought them out many times, once even meeting up with Baumann in Kuala Lumpur in January 2009, in a bid to repair the tarnished image and credibility of the FIBA. But I was shunned each time because their primary purpose was not to unite the two basketball factions in the Philippines but rather transfer FIBA recognition from the BAP to the other camp for marketing and other financial considerations.

Maybe I should want even to inform you that $10 million was missing from the FIBA coffers in early 2000, following a FIBA-sanctioned competition and cannot be traced until today. I, on many occasions, questioned them on this issue, but no answer came out of their mouths. Now, their lips are sealed forever.

What happened to the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP), which had been recognized by FIBA as a member since 1936, is an example of the corrupt practice by the former FIBA Secretariat that was controlled by Baumann and Stankovic, Mafia-style.

After the Philippines, other Asian countries were also trampled and suspended by Baumann and company. Lebanon, Brazil, Russia, and Japan were the victims. They suspended the Japanese national basketball federation for the flimsy reason that the members/leaders of the federation allegedly were divided and then put up a bogeyman (someone who did not belong to the sport basketball as a player or even a leader) as its new leader when, in fact, Baumann wanted to control the marketing program of the Japanese, in anticipation of the bountiful 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which, of course, was postponed a year later.

Thank God, Baumann is no longer around for the sinister move to become a reality. And so it was with Stankovic.

You can say that Baumann was also a racist. He looked down on Asian basketball leaders, except perhaps that of those from China. He never appreciated whatever contributions that Asian leaders made unless there are financial considerations attached to them. As you can see now, of the eight commercial entities, four are from China.

Could Baumann argue with that when he was alive?

The egoistic and manipulative Baumann was the fair-haired dummy of Stankovic when he was still FIBA secretary-general. After the senile Stankovic stepped down, Baumann succeeded him and declared him with FIBA secretary-general emeritus status in exchange for his unchallenged leadership of the organization with a lifetime deal.

Baumann learned all the dirty tricks from Stankovic, conspiring and manipulating to seek the destruction of the national basketball associations in the Philippines (specifically the BAP), Lebanon, Brazil, Japan, etc.

He ruled what a dictator would – through greed, power, and dirty money.

Among Asian countries, greed became a way of life for Baumann – dictating even who should be the FIBA Asia leader and shepherd him under his wings with a rope.

A guy by the name of Hagop Khajirian was installed the permanent secretary-general of FIBA Asia (later changed to FIBA executive director-Asia under the direct control of FIBA sec-gen with a substantial monthly salary to boot instead of sharing FIBA revenues with financially-challenged FIBA national member countries) in Baumann’s bid and his lackeys to run the entire FIBA without any opposition. At worst, it was a FIBA family corporation.

Baumann once promoted the ‘One-FIBA’ theme, but that was only for show. What he really sought was total control of the basketball federations, kicking out personages who question his leadership style and don’t parrot his line such as George Vassilakopouolos from Greece (who recently was re-elected as FIBA Europe president following the death of Baumann).

When you are humiliated by the powers-that-be, one would think that you would just die and roll over and not fight back to preserve your dignity.

Not in the case of the BAP, which chose to fight back in search for only the truth shall set us free.
Kicking the BAP out of the FIBA family, in violation of the Bangkok Agreement and total disregard of due process, is Stankovic-Baumann’s greatest sin that he continues to answer before the Lord Almighty.

Allow me to quote from the great South African leader Nelson Mandela, who was incarcerated for decades before being released from prison to become his country’s president: “There is nothing more dangerous than a humiliated man.’’

Baumann and Stankovic connived to kick the BAP out.

However, another racist personality from Australian, FIBA Oceania president Robert ‘Bob’ Elphinston, who needs personal hygiene because of bad breath, also played a huge role in discrediting the BAP as the national federation in the Philippines, seeking its replacement by an unknown entity (SBP) because of marketing I bonanza it can get as money overflows not because of the finances of its leader but due to the influx of money coming from his Indonesian benefactor.

“It’s all about money, period” Hagop Khajirian, the long-serving FIBA Asia sec-gen with no mass support from other Asian leaders, once said. Calling other people's names is likened to a predator snake out to suck the blood of its prey.

This Lebanese dummy does not have the support of most FIBA Asia members, since they well know that he had been under the palm of Baumann when he was still alive and appointed to the position only because Baumann wanted to make sure the marketing program of the countries from the Asian continent can be dictated by him.

I will be honest, I do not know much about you. I do remember, however, that previous FIBA president from Africa, Mr. Abdoulaye Seye Moreau (1998-2002) once complained to me and Dr. Carl Ching (FIBA President from 2002-2006) that he was treated badly by Stankovic and his cohorts in the FIBA secretariat.

I was a member of the FIBA Youth Commission in 2007 but was dismissed by Baumann without any reason or due process when I started to expose the corrupt marketing style of the FIBA secretariat. Stankovic later offered to return me to the post but I never did for I fully aware they would just want to silence me.

Now, you ask what experiences I have had with the FIBA, I tell you I have many, and most of them are unsavory. I shall post all my communique on Facebook for the entire world to see.

I wish for a total revamp in the FIBA structure. It should not be run by one secretary-general like Baumann whose only worth is to have a contract signed by the FIBA president for him to run the FIBA of 12 years and have it renewed without any opposition. Such an act makes him under the spell of the FIBA president, whoever will the next one be.

The so-called “One-FIBA” theme should be for real, without any strings attached and any discrimination at all.

If changes or reforms are to be made in the FIBA, it has to be a more democratic organization, allowing everybody to voice everybody’s concern and not stifle the contrasting views of some. “Let the flowers bloom,” the great Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung once said.

Make it vibrant and robust by the ruling is based on issues and political patronage. If “FIBA Lives Matter,” rule it with integrity and honesty.

Protect and support the FIBA membership, and share with them what the FIBA earns in marketing. Unlike before, the funds should not go only to its loyal supporters as what happened in the past when the FIBA treasurer had been part of the FIBA conspiracy in marketing strategy.

Observe independence and stop intervening in the internal matters of a national basketball federation.
For a short narrative about the BAP: The Bangkok Agreement that signed in February 2007 was promulgated by the late-FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann and its cohorts. But before long, Baumann and his cohorts manipulated the agreement to favor the SBP leader to replace the BAP, a FIBA member since 1936.

One need not be a rocket scientist to know that the system used by Baumann to push through his agenda through conspiracy, manipulation, and deception. The contents of the Bangkok Agreement were simple to understand but the trickery Baumann disregarded the agreement. He kicked the BAP out and gave the recognition, on a silver platter, to the current group for marketing and other considerations.

That being said, don’t get me wrong. I love the FIBA, and I want the FIBA to do some internal cleansing to succeed – and not through hook or crook. I hope to see the FIBA regain its tarnished image through an honest-to-goodness program and run with credibility and accountability.

I love the sport of basketball, having been a player and a coach in the past, and an executive administrator until now.

Baumann and Stankovic are gone but their misdeeds need to be rectified for the FIBA to be great again. Don’t commit the mistakes of the past for those who repeat them are condemned to the dustbin of history.

As the Chinese philosopher, Confucius said: “what you do not want to be done to you, do not do it to others.”

In Africa, there is a concept known as ubuntu - the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world, it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievements of others. Nelson Mandela, the great African leader, followed this golden rule.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Graham C. Lim
Secretary General, Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP);
Member, the National Press Club (NPC) in the Philippines since 1989.
E-mail: baplink@yahoo.com

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FIBA Secretariat Pandemic

4/27/2020

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April 27, 2020 Title:
FIBA Secretariat Pandemic

I am Graham Chua Lim, the Secretary General of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP).

Water is life, but unlike water, my life has been left barren for so long a time, sucked by a corrupt system perpetuated by the infamously greedy rich in Philippine basketball who, in conspiracy with the crooked FIBA Secretariat of old and farcical former local sports officials, were out to gain control over the sport for personal gratification.

Much worse than sealing him off from any connections to local basketball, for which I had spent time and effort to lift it in my little own way for more than two decades, they forcibly sent me to an exile where I have been physically separated from my wife and two children for the last seven years or so.

Heaven forbid, the curse that had befallen on two corrupt FIBA officials may yet come back to haunt local basketball officials if they make amends to the people that they have offended in this journey.

Face the consequence if they do not do so. For, after all, fire begets fire.

When it comes to the way of life, I have always been guarded by the following words of the great Chinese philosopher Confucius: “Do not do to others what you do not want others to do unto you.”.

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New basketball association set up by all-time Japanese greats and the FIBA Secretariat curse.

4/16/2020

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This writer poses with Mr. Yoshida Masahiko during a dinner in downtown Ginza Tokyo.

April 16, 2020

New basketball association set up by all-time Japanese greats and the FIBA Secretariat curse.
By: Graham C. Lim, member of the National Press Club since 1989.

A newly-formed Japanese pro basketball advisory association, the Japan Basketball Improvement Conference (JBIC), has been set up by legendary Japanese Olympians.

The association has been established to assist the Japan Basketball Association (JBA), the national basketball federation recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), in any way and help develop young athletes improve their skill set.

The JBIC came into the picture after FIBA suspended JBA in 2015 in a sinister attempt by then-FIBA secretary-general, the late Patrick Baumann, and FIBA treasurer Ingo Weiss to control the Japanese basketball through its marketing policies.

The two even went to the extent of putting their lackeys in a sensitive position such as the president, secretary-general and the chairman to run the JBA.

This was the same strategy employed by Baumann and his godfather Borislav Stankovic, both of whom will now have to account for their earthly sins before the Lord Almighty, in controlling other national basketball federations around the world such as the Philippines, Lebanon, Brazil, and the Russian Republic.

It wants dictatorial control of the marketing programs of the independent national basketball federations to suit their devious plans of cornering all the revenues related to the sport.

The FIBA secretariat, led by Baumann, wanted to control the Japan Basketball Association more than a year before the July 2020 Tokyo Olympics that eventually was postponed to July of next year amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

It wants to get the best marketing offer from top corporations in Japan for the Tokyo Olympics not for the betterment for the sport but rather also to suit their personal needs.

Hilariously, Baumann and his stooges designated a lady volleyball athlete to be the JBA president while appointing a football player to run the association as its secretary-general.

With the demise of Baumann, Ingo Weiss took over the FIBA marketing group to stay on course with their demonic strategy in partnership with a selected few in the FIBA family.

Top on the marketing list of the FIBA secretariat was to secure the sponsorship of Toyota. But with the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, any corporate agreement with the International Olympic Committee and Organizers of the Games has been held in abeyance.

Those plans initiated by Baumann – once a member of the International Olympic Committee – to control Japanese basketball was successful but to make sure that the JBA is run with some form of check-and-balance mechanics, legendary Japanese basketball athletes and former Olympians came forth to form the JBIC in support of the JBA and chart the future of young athletes who engage in the sport.

Through the JBIC, the all-time greats in Japan basketball have offered pieces of advice to the JBA regarding its now-stalled plans for the Japan Olympics, which originally were slated from July 24-August 9 this year.

Among them was the highly spirited Mr. Yoshida Masahiko, the former Japan national men’s head coach during the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He occupies one of the JBIC executive positions as Vice Secretary-General.

Regarding the JBIC, the Japan Times newspaper, in its February 15, 2016 issue, reported that a month before there was an informal gathering of the former Japanese basketball players and coaches from the men’s national teams that participated in the Olympics during the 1960s and 1970s.

Before long, in late January 2016, it officially registered as an incorporated association (JBIC) with over 30 members.

One of the JBIC’s biggest concerns is the JBA and Japanese basketball’s future insofar as the competitiveness and development of the sport in their home country.

“When it comes to international relations, Japan used to have ties with the United States, which supported Japanese basketball’s foundation,” said Yoshida, who serves as the JBIC’s Vice Secretary-General. “Japan’s status and its measures (for competitiveness) have degraded.”

Here’s a brief info on Coach Yoshida Masahiko.

Yoshida was connected with Tokyo’s Gyosei high school, a well-known Catholic-based and French-featured education institution.  He was a very outstanding basketball player during his prime.    So it was natural for him to move up to the Rikkyo University in Tokyo, a mission school of Anglican Church, in 1959. He continued playing for the university that was one of the collegiate basketball powerhouses in Japan. He was a household name in the collegiate basketball world because of his remarkable star-level skills.

As a result, he was recruited by the Nippon Kokan, one of the top four commercial teams in Japan following his university graduation.

On the Nippon Kokan squad, Yoshida was a key figure and a starter.

In 1967, he played for Team Japan in the FIBA World Basketball Championship (now known as the FIBA World Cup) in Uruguay. He later became an assistant coach for Team Japan during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  Coach Yoshida Masahiko then was elevated to the head coaching post during the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

As I continue to write about the once tradition-steeped Japanese basketball that was manipulated by the FIBA secretariat, Mafia-style, I am always reminded of what the demonic three stooges – Baumann, Stankovic, and Robert Elphinston – also did to the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP), destroying and then illegally recognize another fledgling but a moneyed group for millions of reasons, one of which is for FIBA to secure a major sponsorship from them and laugh all the way to the bank.

The corrupt practices remain in place even with the death of Baumann and Stankovic, and unless there is another group to govern the FIBA, the extent of corruption in the organization will remain a mystery.

It’s time to rectify the malpractices if the FIBA is to repair its tarnished image and regain credibility.

For the last two decades, I have been hounded relentlessly by former government officials in my country of birth in conspiracy with one of the FIBA Secretariat’s corporate partners and current self-styled basketball leaders who don’t want me to get in their way to control the sport by hook or by crook that in the process, will expose their misdeeds before the general public.

Maybe the injustice that I have suffered through the years has somehow been answered by the Universal Karma that took the lives of Baumann and Stankovic.

May the same Universal Karma will open the eyes of the current FIBA leaders before it’s too late. Otherwise, the same curse that befell the old guards may come and haunt them if they don’t shape up and mend their corrupt ways. Cleansing the organization of the scalawags is the only option remaining.

The curse will likely also befall on the leadership of the current national basketball federation in the Philippines if it continues with its corrupt and dictatorial practices.

The injustice it had done to the tradition-steeped Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP), discarding its FIBA recognition of more than eight decades in favor of a fledgling but money group without any proper legal procedures, and in total disregard of the 2007 Bangkok Agreement,
in sinister collusion with Baumann and the old FIBA secretariat and even up to this time with the new regime.

If justice cannot be served here on earth then expect the long hands of the Universal Karma law to catch up with these usurpers in the days ahead.

As for me, I am grateful to have met the JBIC Executive Board members in November 2019. Making up the JBIC Executive Board are all-time Asian basketball great Masatomo Taniguchi (Olympians in 1972 Munich) as the JBIC Chairman; Kunihiko Nakamura (Olympian in 1965 Tokyo Games) as the JBIC Secretary-General; Masao Tachibana (former JBA Board member); Takao Imai (former JBA Board and FIBA referee); Shinji Ichikawa (former national player); Kiyohide Kuwata and Kazuko Oono (both Olympians from the 1976 Montreal Games); Hayato Kusakai (former Japan league official); JBIC Vice-Chair’s Masami Kase (former JBA Board member) and Shigeru Harada (former Japan women national head coach).
Taniguchi, however, quit as JBIC Chairman last month (March 2020) due to serious health issues.  He was replaced by  Kiyohide Kuwata, a former Olympian during the 1976 Montreal Games, effective April (this month).
Moreover, Kunihiko Nakamura and Mr. Masahiko Yoshida also resigned due to health concerns and were replaced by Shinji Ichikawa, a former Japanese national athlete.

The JBIC Supreme Advisors include Toshiichiroc Abe (former JBA Board member), Kuninaka Taketomi (former JBA Executive Director), and Syouji Kamata (1960 Rome Olympics player).

So proud this writer is following a meet with former Japanese basketball Olympians and JBIC officials during a Tokyo trip.

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FIBA: Now is the time to Change!

3/22/2019

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FIBA: Now is the time to Change!
March 22, 2019: By Graham C. Lim, member of the National Press Club-Philippines

Former FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann is gone. May the Good Lord forgive all his transgressions on earth. He would have been the FIBA head for life if Divine forces had not intervened.

And yet, his subalterns remain in the seat of power and the corrupt practices by the FIBA Secretariat have not been eradicated.

It’s time for the FIBA to restore its credibility and recoup the tarnished image it has cultivated during the two-decade reign of Baumann and his lackeys.
The dictatorial approach espoused by Baumann must be discontinued, resulting in a culture of opportunism that favored its own and ostracized its critics.

According to Dato Shih Kok Shi of the Olympic Council of Malaysia, corruption has benn a continuing issue against Baumann and the FIBA Secretariat.

Many believed that the reign of intimidation and corruption would never end even with the demise of Baumann as his aging puppets like Borislav Stankovic are still around.

This is one area where the decent members of the FIBA family must stand up against. The issue of corruption cannot be just swept under the rug.

Stankovic has a lot of explaining to do. He cannot just walk the same path as Baumann undertook during his watch, treating the FIBA like a Mafia-style organization where secrecy is the norm.

A democratization of the organization is the way to go. Stankovic, a dealer of tricks during his time and the puppet that pulled the strings during Baumann’s reign, must step down immediately to give younger people an opportunity to revitalize the organization and cleanse its self of its dictatorial policies.

Greediness must be stopped, and so must vengeance stop.

Too much power had been concentrated among the stooges in the Secretariat, led by the despicable duo of Baumann and his puppet master Stankovic, in the last two decades. It was designed to intimidate the weak and enrich themselves by hooking up with the moneyed to gain control of a national federation’s marketing plans by forcing it to sing to the tune of the Secretariat’s own marketing strategies under the threat of a suspension such as in the case of Lebanon, Brazil, and Japan, notably the latter coming as it was at a time that Tokyo will be hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics.

The same scenario applies to the case of the tradition-steeped Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP), which was kicked out by Baumann and company in 2009 in exchange for several thousands of silvers to a moneyed group with questionable integrity and credibility.

The BAP had been a FIBA member since 1936 but its recognition was withdrawn without any legal or moral basis by the tyrannical duo of Baumann and Stankovic, who acted as prosecutor and hangman in kicking out the BAP with no violations whatsoever except that the BAP had no grease money to offer in fattening their and the FIBA’s marketing coffers.

Worst, Baumann created a Memorandum of Agreement – known as the Bangkok Agreement – to trick the BAP into accepting it and then dismissing it in favor of its handpicked moneybag that is the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, a fledgling organization that until now is being subsidized by a rich businessman whose money overflows from the funds of a foreign businessman.

Because of potential marketing revenues from this group, Baumann and his lackeys sold the BAP down the river.

I hope that the respectable FIBA members with no blood in their hands initiate proposals that will result in a new FIBA structure that forbids employees like Baumann and Stankovic to take control of the organization dictatorially and allow democracy to reign among all its members in the establishment of new policies and rules.

I once ask Baumann during a meeting in Kuala Lumpur in January 2009 as to the reason why he suspended the BAP in 2005. His answer was “I made a wrong decision.” Then I told Baumann he could still rectify what wrong he did. He never did - there was no remorse on his part as it turned out. His conscience probably never bothered him and so the Good Lord eventually took him away.

It is time for the FIBA to hire a president with a vibrant outlook and revitalized by young people with brilliant minds with no strings attached to the dark-age reign of Baumann and Stankovic and guided by democratic principles that can reunite the fragmented organization that it is now.

Never again that the FIBA hierarchy be treated like a family corporation with so much power entrusted to a few people.

The new FIBA president should be elected by full membership in the forthcoming FIBA World Congress. While the position of secretary general is appointed by the newly-elected president, both personages should be accountable and answerable to all the members of the organization.

Discussions on various issues should be open to all and any policies that it has undertaken must never be shrouded in secrecy.

The Limitation to their terms of office must be instituted. No more the issuance of contract lengths as long as 12 years – such as in the case of the position of secretary general occupied by Baumann for two decades and possibly held for life by him if death did not come to claim him.

Do away with such contracts that could tempt some officials to grab absolute control of the FIBA marketing and run it like a family corporation.

For the common good of everyone, old guards like Stankovic and Bob Elphinston are obliged to join Baumann in the exit gates to allow the entry of fresh blood – young men and women with full of idealism and indisputable integrity.

Then maybe, the BAP can attain justice under the new regime. The truth behind the illegal dismissal of the BAP may be known to the general membership sans fear or favor.

The truth, after all, shall set us all free.

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2017 BAP National Congress in Manila

6/17/2017

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29 April 2017

Attention:           BAP Regional Directors, Commissioners, League-Organizations and Clubs
Re:                         New set of officers for the term 2017- 2020
From:                    BAP National Secretariat

Dear Friends and Members:

Greetings from the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP)!

Please be informed that BAP will hold its National Congress on June 17, 2017 (Saturday) at 10:00 a.m. at the Auditorium of the Technological University of the Philippines (TUP) along Ayala Boulevard in Ermita, Manila.

All BAP Regional Directors, Commissioners, Head of different Commissions, and league-organizations and clubs members, are enjoined to attend the Congress, which has been long overdue. This correspondence serves as an invitation.

The Registration period will be from April 30, 2017 to June 10, 2017. Registration forms are now available at the BAP National Secretariat office (E-mail: info.baplink@gmail.com) or check BAP website at www.baplink.com for print of Registration Form and email to info.baplink@gmail.com.

Attendees are to pay a Registration Fee of FIVE HUNDRED PESO (₱500.00). The amount is being charged to defray expenses to be incurred during the National Congress.

Transportation and dormitory expenses are also to be shouldered by the participants.
Certificates of Attendance will be issued to the participants.

For more information and inquiries, please feel free to contact the BAP National Secretariat through the following:
MR. ROBERT MILTON CALO
Mr. Leonardo B. Andres Sr.
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Tel. # 0917 895 6612 c/o Mr. Leonardo B. Andres Sr.
Tel. # 0917 806 5554        PISCUAA c/o Robert Milton Calo
Tel. # 0915 334 5651 SCUAA c/o Allan Soria

Interested parties who wish to be considered as a candidate for membership to the BAP Board of Directors for the term 2017-2020 may e-mail their credentials to info.baplink@gmail.com.

The positions up for grabs are: President, Executive Vice-President, Vice-Presidents (three members), Secretary General, Deputy Secretary General, Treasurer, Auditor and Directors (five members).

Your unwavering support and commitment to the BAP will be validated by your attendance in the BAP National Congress.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely yours,

GRAHAM C. LIM
Secretary General,
Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) Inc.

                                                                                                Cc:          Members of the BAP Board of Trustees

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Mission Accomplished in Nan'an City, Fujian Province, China

10/27/2016

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The Philippine National Police (PNP) basketball team, through the auspices of the FESSAP affiliated Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP), is taking part in the 9th Zheng Chenggong Cup in Nan’an City, Fujian Province in the People’s Republic of China. More than basketball, the PNP Defenders saw action in the invitational tournament to foster friendship and camaraderie among players from other Asian countries. Shown in the picture are PNP Senior Superintendent Gilberto Cruz, PNP Head Coach Eric Samson, Head of Delegation Alvin Tai Lian and Deputy Head Tai Xin Ming, FESSAP president David U. Ong and Megaworld Corporation & FESSAP Honorary Vice-Chair’s Danilo Madlansacay.

October 28, 2016
Zheng Chenggong Cup: Mission accomplished.

The Philippine National Police basketball team recently took part in the 9th Zheng Chenggong Cup international men’s basketball competitions in the bustling and booming city of Nan’an, Fujian province in the People’s Republic of China.

More than the results on the floor, the PNP Defenders played the role of the ambassadors of goodwill to the hilt, earning raves from their co-players from seven other teams from Taiwan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the host country.

“The players adhered to fair play and sportsmanship throughout the five-day tournament and this is a pleasant development in international basketball,” said Thailand’s Hi-Tech team manager Piyapong Piroon. “Win or lose, they never resorted to foul play.

Along the way, the PNP squad also fostered friendship and camaraderie among its peers and even to the local police force. Many more were awed by the popularity of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, who had just come from a state visit to Beijing together with a business delegation.

The local organizers were much thankful of Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) Secretary General Graham C. Lim, who was instrumental in bringing in club teams from Korea (Enerskin), Malaysia (all-star selection), Thailand Basketball League (TBL) champs Hi-Tech and the PNP Defenders.

Lim was boosted by the presence of Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP) president David Ong; Asia-Pacific University Sports Union (APUSU) president and FESSAP Board chair Alvin Tai Lian; businessman-sportsman Tai Xin Ming; Megaworld Corporation & FESSAP Honorary Vice Chair’s Danilo Madlansacay; and International Basketball Federation (FIBA –Asia) Secretary General Emeritus and Asian University Basketball Federation (AUBF) Honorary President Dato’ Yeoh Choo Hock of Malaysia.

The PNP team leader was led by Police Senior Superintendent Gilberto Cruz with Federico “Eric” Samson as PNP Head Coach and assisted by Juven Formacil. Edmundo Ang, Team Coordinator; Maria Cecilia Sarmiento, Secretary; and players are Harold Decena, Abul Khair Bayabao, Japheth Cabahug, Ronaldo Abaya, Crislyn Elopre, Ricardo Cabrera Jr., Harold Sta. Cruz, Rodel Ongutan, Alejandro Yanguiling Jr., Antonio Tolentino Jr., and Paul Ogayon.

Other teams that saw action in the 9th edition of the Zheng Chenggong Cup were Taiwan’s Fubon Braves, which featured Brooklyn Nets playmaker Jeremy Lin’s younger brother Joseph Shu-Wei Lin and American import Liam Paul McMorrow, and Kin Men Kaoliang, which was bannered by former pro-import Eugene Phelps; Singapore’s Tong Whye Physical Association, which had four Filipinos on its roster led by the Philippines’ Development League veteran and University of the East product Paul Christian Zamar, John Michael Noble Dagatan, Michael Gierald Parala Gomez and Ramsie Cinco Da Elvir; and the host Nan’an selection.

In the end, the one-game finals featured a pair of unbeaten teams from Taiwan.

The Fubon Braves broke away from a close game with a 14-0 blast bridging the third and fourth quarters to erase a 55-50 deficit and moved ahead for good, 64-55, early in the fourth frame.

The tree-like McMorrow paced the 5-0 Braves with 26 points. He was backed up by Wen Cheng Tsai’s 19 markers. Lin contributed eight points.

Phelps, who suited up for Phoenix Petroleum in the recently-concluded PBA Governors’ Cup, netted 30 points in a losing cause.

In the battle for third place, Nan’an, which topped the 8th Zheng Chenggong Cup, whipped Korea’s Enerskin, 107-81.

Zamar, a son of former national team coach Boysie Zamar who last played for Cafe France in the PBA D-League, produced the tournament’s single-game individual high with 40 points in seventh-place Singapore’s 93-91 double-overtime loss to Korea’s Enerskin.

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In its front-page newspaper masthead, The Philippine Star proudly proclaims the “Truth shall prevail” slogan

5/26/2016

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In its front-page newspaper masthead, The Philippine Star proudly proclaims the “Truth shall prevail” slogan.
By: Graham C. Lim

Consequently, Star is expected to adhere to fair reportage where news reports and opinions of columnists may be rebutted or denied in print in the name of fairness. While “free space” is upon the discretion of the editors, the right to reply to a false accusation or inaccuracy in a newspaper must also be allowed to find print.

One-sided or bias reportage has no space in a legitimate newspaper unless freedom of information is restricted only to the influential or powers-that-be.

For the second time in the Philippines Star, the Honorable Jarius Bondoc came out to malign me in his column for May 25, 2016 based on his alleged conversations with the honorable Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr., the long-serving president of the Philippine Olympic Committee.

The first time Bondoc came out to attack me in his column, I sent a letter to the Philippine Star editors to answer the unfounded accusations of Cojuangco and Bondoc against my person.

Not surprisingly, my letter failed to find print when fairness dictates the Star should do so.

Now comes again the rehashed accusations and imaginary charges against me in the May 25, 2016 column of the Honorable Bondoc.

All of the accusations hurled against me are the figment of imagination of Cojuangco and shamelessly parroted by his spin doctor, Bondoc.

Descriptions of how some people allegedly were illegally sent out to different basketball tournaments – such as those supposedly happening way back before 2012 – when, in fact, the Basketball Association of the Philippines had been out of the national basketball leadership (and replaced by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas since the time) had already been in control of the national basketball leadership as early as 2008, is purely the work of a fiction writer or somebody suffering from symptoms of senility.

And after concocting those so-called stories, I am being accused of being a human smuggler in order to justify the aforementioned tales, I, having been the BAP secretary general, and Senator Antonio Trillanes, concurrently the BAP president whom Cojuangco and Bondoc find unadulterated joy in attacking for a political matter not related to my case, have been maligned with impunity.

Worse, I am saddened when I can’t fight back on a leveled field and reply to the accusations in the same forum (newspaper) that published them.

“Truth shall prevail” is the Philippine Star’s proud slogan. Soon, the world will also find out the truth and, as they say, “the truth shall set us free.”

Change is coming. And the truth shall be its biggest victor.

Date: Thu, May 26, 2016 at 4:40 PM
Subject: "Truth shall prevail" slogan!
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September 09th, 2015

9/9/2015

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Who really is the terrorist threat of Philippine basketball?

2/18/2015

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February 18, 2015

To the Editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer: Who really is the terrorist threat of Philippine basketball?

Mr. Recah Trinidad has written a series of columns that are full of venom against Senator Antonio Trillanes and the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP). It went on to describe the BAP as the terrorist threat in Philippine basketball.

Trinidad conveniently quoted a guy that claims to be a sports authority and alleges to teach values to his students. How could a certain Aparicio Mequi attempt to be a messiah of Philippine basketball when he could not even get the facts right?

Is this the same Mequi who was dismissed as Philippine Sports Commission chair during the time of President Ramos due to corruption?

And here comes somebody who puts this guy’s statements into print without having checked first the veracity of such declarations.

If Mequi is really worth his salt, he would have known that the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas did not honor – and instead violated – the Bangkok Agreement signed in February 2007 that would have merged the BAP and the SBP under the name “BAP-SBP.”

The list of voting members agreed upon in the Bangkok Agreement – which had 67 for BAP and 21 for the SBP – that will take part in an election following a one-year transition period was not honored by the SBP. Instead, the SBP, the minority group, chose to call for a rump election, disowned all BAP voting members and put in only its own so it could monopolize the list that will pick the next set of officers to lead the “BAP-SBP.”

To complete the mockery of the Bangkok Agreement, the FIBA, through the unilateral decision of its secretary general Patrick Baumann, who himself was a signatory to the Bangkok Agreement, sided with the SBP for personal interests and just brushed aside the issues at hand).

Subsequently, the SBP changed the organization to simply “SBP” and the FIBA Secretariat, through Baumann, kept its silence and indirectly agreed to the illegal action by the SBP.

Prior to that, a FIBA Special Meeting was supposedly to be held in Switzerland to settle the dispute. The SBP initially said it won’t attend, even calling it a “sham,” but later decided to go even days before the meeting would take place. Days of wining and dining by the SBP and FIBA officials proved to be a major factor.

The BAP, on the other hand, was not able to attend the meeting because its representative was unable to get a visa on time. That’s because some powerful personalities had warned the Swiss embassy to delay –if not deny – the issuance of a visa to the BAP representative.

The BAP, as the aggrieved party, elevated the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Even there, the goose may have been cooked way in advance. Does that mean that some SBP and FIBA personalities had connections with CAS executives?

The death of the BAP is greatly exaggerated. It will never cease to die as an entity. What the BAP lost was the FIBA recognition.

Terrorism occurs when some people shamelessly discredit a legal entity in an attempt to illegally grab power for itself.

The SBP is the country’s national basketball association that is recognized by the FIBA following a conspiratorial action taken by the SBP, POC and FIBA against the BAP.

Now I ask: Who really is the terrorist threat of Philippine basketball? The paid hacks should have their brains examined so as to be able to distinguish fact from fiction.

It’s been a long time that sports has been dominated by political patronage. Money and power are all that matter to the national sports leadership. Their belief that only they have the authority to lead the national sports is the height of arrogance.

Now Recah, I ask you how much are the series of column worth in attacking the BAP?

Fair play demands that both sides of the story are heard.

Even seasoned veteran journalists like Recah knows this pretty well.

In the interest of fair reporting, I seek the publication of this correspondence!

Sincerely,

BAP Secretariat

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In its front-page newspaper masthead, The Philippine Star proudly proclaims the “Truth shall prevail” slogan

September 09th, 2015

Who really is the terrorist threat of Philippine basketball?

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