Lim address his critic
Saturday, 24 May, 2008, 5:29 PM

Contrary to his critics' unrelenting salvos, Basketball Association of the Philippines secretary-general Graham Lim is not running for any position in the forthcoming BAP-SBP elections set by
BAP-SBP chairman Congressman Luis Villafuerte on June
4, 2:00 p.m., at the Century Park Hotel.

"I don't have any intention to run for a position in the BAP-SBP Board," said the controversial but often-misunderstood Lim.  "All I want is to save the BAP as an institution."

The SBP faction under telecommunication tycoon Manuel Pangilinan looks to disenfranchise the 66 BAP
stakeholders with voting rights under the Bangkok Agreement by delisting them from the nomination
process.

The Bangkok Agreement, of which Pangilinan is a signatory, provides that all 87 stakeholders - 66 from
the BAP and 21 from Pilipinas Basketball - from the transitory period  are eligible to vote for the first
regular BAP-SBP Board of Trustees in an election.

"I have given my all for Philippine basketball," said Lim.  "I now leave it to other leaders with
unquestionable integrity and competence such as former Congressman Prospero Pichay and Congressman Luis Villafuerte.  

Both are men of principles and have only the best intentions for Philippine basketball, so unlike the
others."

According to  Lim , the 71-year-old BAP has had a tradition-steeped relationship with the FIBA and he
simply cannot understand why others would want the organization to be disenfranchised in favor of an
another entity that has yet to prove itself.

Graham Lim was recently dismissed as a member of the FIBA Youth Commission by FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann, a arch rival who has sided with the SBP in all issues even though the local leadership row remains an internal problem. 

May 20, 2008
Manila Standard TODAY
REIRA U. MALLARI, Editor

TOP officials of the Basketball Association of the Philippines-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas

faction, led by its chairman Rep. Luis Villafuerte, said it will hold a general assembly on June 4, 2p.m. at the Century Park Sheraton to elect a new set of officers.

          At the same time, Villafuerte and other officials identified with the 71-year-old BAP, lambasted BAP-SBP chairman Manny Pangilinan for trying to disenfranchise the 66 BAP stakeholders recognized as active members with voting rights in the Bangkok Agreement, a document that superseded the Tokyo Communique.

      “Men of honor keep their words,” said Villafuerte, referring to the Bangkok Agreement that Pangilinan had signed in February a year ago but is now being disregarded. 

      “There’s nothing honourable when one breaks his word.”

      Fifty-six our of the 87 BAP-SBP basketball stakeholders with voting rights to the election of the first regular set of its board of trustees under the Bangkok Agreement showed up in the National Congress, assuring a majority quorum.

     Among those who attended the Congress were BAP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay, BAP-SBP treasurer Christian Tan and BAP-SBP lawyer Bonifacio Alentajan among others.

    Delegations from the different regions and provinces such as Cebu, Albay, Baguio City, Eastern and Western Samar, Western and Southern Leyte and Zamboanga also attended the meeting in a show of force by the BAP stakeholders.

                                                      More powers sought for PSC

CAMARINES Sur  Rep. Luis Villafuerte said he will file a resolution in aid of legislation before the lower Chamber to review the present structure of the Philippine Sports Commission and other government sports body.                       

Villafuerte said the PSC should be given enough power over the national sports associations activities and programs, including the authority to review the national team’s line up.


“Sports’ leaders should be working for the betterment of the sports and not engage in politicking.  We should also find ways to hold them accountable without us being accused of the government intervention,” said Villafuerte who is also the chairman of the Basketball Association of the Philippines.

He added that “the PSC should require all NSA to submit their programs and activities, then supervise it.”

Villafuerte’s statement came on the heels of controversies involving several NSAs, the PSC and the Games and Amusements Board.

Villafuerte is part of the BAP faction which will hold an election on June 4, while a separate election was set by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas on June 12.