THE PBA Commissioner's Office hit San Miguel forward Arwind Santos with a P200,000 fine for his racial slur directed at TNT import Terrence Jones on Wednesday night.
"Walang lugar ang racial discrimination sa basketball at sports in general at sa PBA in particular. Hindi pinahihintulutan ng liga yung mga ganung aksyon, at kung maulit pa, mas mabigat na sanction ang ipapataw natin," said PBA commissioner Willie Marcial.
The league chief was quick to summon the San Miguel forward on Thursday, allowing the latter to explain his side following his monkey gestures on the sidelines in the second quarter of the Beermen's 99-94 Game Five win over the KaTropa.
On top of the fine, Marcial also said Santos is required to render 100 hours of community service and undergo seminar and counseling on equality and racial discrimination.
Marcial also took the opportunity to apologize to Jones and everyone who were hurt by the unfortunate incident.
"Bilang Commissioner, humihingi ako ng pasensya at pang-unawa kay Mr. Terrence Jones at sa kanyang pamilya. Ang PBA at tahanan para sa lahat, bukas para sa lahat at walang kinikilalang kulay, lahi o paniniwala," said the amiable executive.
Santos was unapologetic when asked about the monkey taunt after Wednesday's Game Five has since posted a public apology on his Twitter account on Thursday.
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