THE Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) is giving the NCAA "operational independence" in dealing with the fallout of the John Amores controversy.
"Kung mga may nangyayari sa kanila lalo na yung mga insidenteng di kanais-nais, as the federation, we state our position but at the same time, we allow them operational independence and we believe in their wisdom of their owners and operators," said SBP executive director Sonny Barrios in Tuesday's Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum.
See Rep. Franz Pumaren urges SBP to step in, review Amores sanctions
Quezon City third district Rep. Franz Pumaren has urged the federation to step in and intervene on the situation and review the sanctions handed down by the NCAA.
Amores was handed an indefinite suspension by the league and his school Jose Rizal University following his punching spree in a game last week against College of St. Benilde.
"The SBP, which is the governing arm of the basketball program here, should take action,” said Pumaren. "We should call the attention of the SBP because indefinite suspension siya only in the NCAA. He can play in another tournament. He can play in the MPBL. He can play in other tournaments."
The NCAA is one of the stakeholders in the SBP.
Barrios had met NCAA officials Dax Castellano of St. Benilde and Paul Supan of JRU in an online meeting to discuss the situation.
"We had a proactive and positive discussion," Barrios said.
"We agreed that we share the view of condemning court violence. We've also talked about preventive measures to avoid repetition of such unwanted incidents and we talked about sanctions being meted out in a fair manner."
"I was emboldened to give them some unsolicited advice. I talked abut my experience in PBA, more than 20 years in handling unwanted situations, and I shared with them the importance of due process, giving the accused his day in court," said the former PBA commissioner.
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