THE PBA Commissioner's Office said it will summon Ginebra star Japeth Aguilar and Rain or Shine rookie Adrian Wong after a video that surfaced online showed them playing in a five-a-side game while Metro Manila and most parts of the country remain under quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Commissioner Willie Marcial said he wants to get the side of the two amid concerns that they participated in a basketball game in violation of the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) guidelines enforced by the government's Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
"Kakausapin ko muna so I can get their side," said Marcial, who bared that he sent out a memo to all the league's member teams banning players from participating in scrimmages and training in compliance with the government's quarantine rules.
Marcial said he also plans to call up Isaac Go, who was one of the players identified in the video of the five-a-side game held in a Greenhills gym posted on Wednesday. Also identified in the video was Japan-bound Thirdy Ravena.
Go was drafted No. 1 overall by Columbian in the last PBA Rookie Draft but is technically under the supervision of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) as a member of the Gilas Pilipinas pool along with Ravena.
'Kakausapin ko lang," said Marcial.
Wong is a former Ateneo standout who was taken fifth by Rain or Shine in the last PBA regular draft and eventually signed to a rookie contract. He wasn't identified in the scrimmages video but appeared in group photos of players not practicing social distancing after training.
Team sports is still banned by the IATF under its GCQ guidelines, although the PBA is seeking approval for a plan to bring its teams back into training mode under a controlled environment maintained by strict health safeguards.
Those plans, however, still do not include scrimmages which the league hopes would come next in preparation for a targeted October return.
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