THE MPBL Commissioner's Office has slapped Basilan veteran Arwind Santos with a one-game suspension and a P20,000 fine for punching Tonton Bringas of GenSan in Game Two of their best-of-three quarterfinar playoff on Monday.
Sources bared league officials are set to hand down the penalty that will keep Santos out of the do-or-die Game Three of the South Division playoff between the Portmasters and the Warriors.
LOOK: Tonton Bringas eye injury from Arwind Santos punch in MPBL
A Basilan loss will put an end to Santos' second season in the regional league,
However, the punishment is considerably lighter compared to the calls made on social media by critics of Santos who felt the incident was no different from the punch thrown by GenSan's Michole Sorela on Jonas Tibayan of Mindoro in an August 2025 game.
Sorela was handed a lifetime ban and slapped with a P200,000 penalty for the punch.
The league has yet to make any announcements, but league insiders cited 'provocation' from Bringas prior to the punch as well as his disciplinary record as mitigating factors that came into play in the punishment of the former PBA MVP.
In Monday's Game Two of their South Division quarterfinal, Santos and Bringas were jostling for position inside the lane when the former San Miguel star unleashed a punch that caught the Warriors forward in the left eye.
Santos, 44, was ejected from the game which Basilan won, 116-114, after two overtime periods,
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