THE last few paragraphs of our story on Kenneth Duremdes' league-record contract, about a reward of around P5 million offered by the PBA for any information that leads to a salary-cap violation getting caught, have raised a lot of eyebrows.
Does it really exist? they ask.
Well, it does. The PBA Commissioner's Office put the salary-cap rule, as well as the mechanics to make sure that it is followed, in place during the time of the late Rudy Salud and it has not been repealed from the league's by-laws since.
The rule that puts a limit on the salaries and bonuses of individual players as well as the total salaries of each team has not changed. What constantly changes are the ceilings for individual and team salaries, which can be amended by the board.
The same goes for the article in the league by-laws that hands out severe punishment to any team which violates the rule - and offers a hefty reward for any information that leads to a violator being caught and prosecuted.
Actually, there is no exact figure for the reward. The by-laws state that a team caught in violation of the salary cap will forfeit its share of the television revenue for that season - and the whistle-blower will get 25 percent of that.
Under current estimates that placed the TV revenue share of each of the 12 PBA teams at P15 to P20 million, a whistle-blower stands to receive as much as P5M if a ballclub is prosecuted based on the information he or she provided.
The rule also provides protection for a player who comes forward as a witness, granting him immunity from prosecution in the event it is his own [spurious] contract that he presented as evidence, league sources told SPIN.ph.
Over the last decade, there have been a number of allegations of rampant violations of the salary cap, with no less than Alaska team owner Wilfred Uytengsu calling for more transparency in the contractual dealings between ballclubs and players.
Alluding to the rise of so-called 'super teams,' Uytengsu wondered out loud just last year, "How does that team fit all these players under the salary cap?"
Then there was the famous line of then Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao: 'May pagkakaiba ba ang maximum [salary na binibigay] namin sa maximum ng ibang teams?"
Despite all the accusations and counter-charges, there was only one instance in the pro league's long history when one PBA ballclub had his television-revenue share for one season forfeited because of a salary-cap violation.
An old-timer remembered the whistle-blower had 'all the goods' on the ballclub. The case was 'quietly settled,' another source added, with the team accepting the punishment and the whistle-blower getting the reward.
How much?
Well, considering the PBA during that time had a lucrative deal with its former television partner, the reward was 'quite big,' said the source.
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