THE PBA Board of Governors on Wednesday approved the transfer of the ownership of the Columbian Dyip franchise from Columbian Autocar Corporation to its sister company Terrafirma Realty Development Corporation.
PBA vice-governor Bobby Rosales, who is also the Columbian governor, confirmed the development in a virtual press conference following the league’s board meeting at the PBA office in Libis, Quezon City.
“This afternoon, I submitted a letter request to the board on behalf of the Columbian Autocar Corporation which owns the PBA franchise. The request is to transfer the franchise to the sister company ... Terrafirma Realty Development Corporation. Both companies are owned and controlled by [Palawan] governor Jose Alvarez,” said Rosales.
Rosales said Terrafirma owns the assembly plant of all the vehicles carried by the Columbian group of companies of Alvarez as well as other brands like Peugeot.
“Top management decided to streamline its operations. That is the reason [behind] the transferring of the franchise from Columbian Autocar to Terrafirma,” said Rosales.
PBA chairman Ricky Vargas said Columbian only needs a few more documents to make the transfer official.
“After a review by our lawyer, [Rosales] reported to the board and they satisfy all requirements of our constitution and to just submit two or three more documents and have the board approved the change of ownership,” said Vargas.
Rosales said the team will most likely retain the Dyip moniker, but without the Columbian name.
“Most probably, we will be retaining the name of the Dyip but of course, we can change that. Wala lang Columbian. It might by Terrafirma Dyip,” said Rosales.
It is not clear how the ownership switch will affect the operations of the Dyip, which entered the PBA in 2014 along with fellow expansion team Blackwater with Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao as playing coach.
In their first season, the franchise was named KIA Sorento before undergoing several name changes to KIA Carnival, Mahindra Enforcer, Mahindra Floodbuster, and KIA Picanto before settling on Columbian Dyip in 2018.
However, the Dyip only have one playoff appearance under their belt in their five years in the league before the transfer of ownership to Terrafirma.
CJ Perez has been the face of the franchise over the past year, winning the Rookie of the Year honors for 2019.
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