NORTHPORT team manager Pido Jarencio apologized for his actions which he said were made in the heat of the moment at the end of the NLEX Road Warriors-Batang Pier PBA Commissioner’s Cup game on Wednesday night.
The 59-year-old Jarencio reached out to Commissioner Willie Marcial the morning after the incident and said sorry about the spat with NLEX import Thomas Robinson that followed Northport’s 112-104 loss at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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At the same time, Jarencio said he’ll do the same to , with whom he had a shouting match at the hallway of the Big Dome leading to the team dugouts.
“Tinawagan ko na si commissioner and nag-apologize na ako. Sinabi ko kung ano 'yung mga nangyari, pero humingi pa rin ako ng paumanhin,” he said.
LOOK: Thomas Robinson gets into shouting match with Pido Jarencio
While admitting he uttered offensive words in the heat of the moment, Jarencio said some of them were meant as a joke.
“Nag ‘Happy New Year’ pa nga ako sa kanya, di ba,” stressed the former PBA player turned team official.
Jarencio, current head coach of University of Santo Tomas, said he was just trying to stand up for a person within the organization with whom Thomas was actually having a heated conversation.
He refused to mention the name of the individual, but was obviously referring to team governor Eric Arejola.
“Hindi naman talaga ako kasama dun, e. Inaawat ko nga dahil salita pa siya ng salita. Tapos maya’t maya pati sa akin may sinasabi na,” said Jarencio.
The incident began at the 5:15 mark of the third period with Northport trailing, 75-64, when Robinson and big man JM Calma got a bit too physical.
It led to a technical foul against the NLEX import, who began to exchange words with Arejola at the sidelines.
Arejola said he wasn’t actually talking to Robinson but to the referees, when the former NBA player started trash talking him.
The emotions apparently, hadn’t died down as both Robinson and the Northport governor went at it again during the traditional post-game handshakes.
The heated words eventually spilled onto the hallway leading to the dugout, with Jarencio soon joining the fray.
Cooler heads had to separate both parties including Marcial and deputy commissioner Eric Castro.
Jarencio was later seen shaking hands with NLEX coach Frankie Lim before heading straight to the dugout, while Lim made a quick apology to Arejola.
Robinson, the No. 5 pick overall in the 2012 NBA draft, also downplayed the commotion by saying its the nature of two parties being both competitive.
Jarencio said everything’s in the past and he is ready to move on.
“Kakamayan ko siya (Robinson) pag nagkita kami. Baka nga i-high five ko pa, e,” added the Northport official.
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