REYNEL Hugnatan swore it was not him who shouted the words, ‘Ref, lutong luto ‘to ah’ in the middle of Game Three of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals that was heard by a live audience on television and online.
"Sure ako, hindi ako ang nagsabi 'nun,” Hugnatan said in an online message to SPIN.ph a day after being tagged by fans as the one who shouted the line at the 10:04 mark of the fourth quarter in Meralco’s 91-84 loss to Barangay Ginebra on Sunday.
Hugnatan was shown on television complaining about something at around the time the remark as heard, obviously the reason the former Bacolod Slasher took the heat from fans online in the aftermath of the incident.
He was later called for a technical foul but it wasn't clear for what reason, and was seen talking to a referee shortly thereafter.
Prior to the ‘luto’ statement, Japeth Aguilar was called for a three-second violation with Hugnatan defending him.
The culprit apparently was very close to one of the ambient microphones set up around the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena and Cultural Center since the words were very clear even to fans who were following the game on radio.
Hugnatan appeared to be at center court at the time the incident happened.
One of the oldest players in the league, Hugnatan said he is not angry at bashers who unfairly pinpointed him as the culprit.
“Hindi ko na pinapansin mga ‘yan. Alam ko naman kung ano ang totoo. Kasi kapag pinansin mo pa ‘yan, baka ma-stress ka lang,” said Hugnatan.
Hugnatan also has a message to those fans who have pointed him as the suspect.
“Sure ako kapag nalaman nila na hindi pala ako ang nagsabi, wag kayo mag-alala, love ko pa rin kayo,” said Hugnatan.
In a separate interview with Gerry Ramos inside the PBA bubble, Hugnatan said he doesn’t mind the negative comments of the fans.
“Sa akin, okay lang naman ‘yun. Alam ko ang totoo. Sila, nakita lang nila sa TV ‘yung nangyari. Hindi ko rin sila masisisi. Opinion nila ‘yun. Hindi ko hawak ang nasa isip at puso nila. Sa akin, okay lang ‘yun. Basta ako, alam ko ‘yung totoo,” said Hugnatan.
The Meralco veteran also said he can’t blame the reaction of the fans because he was the one who was shown on the screen moments after the words were heard by the live audience.
“Nagkataon lang na ako ‘yung nandoon na parang nagrereklamo. Narinig nila siguro ‘yung salita na ‘yun tapos timig na ‘yung camera, nasa akin kaya lahat ng nanonood, akala nila ako ang nagsabi,” said Hugnatan.
“Hindi naman totoo. Walang problema sa akin ‘yun. Sa lahat ng nagsabi nun … malalaman nila ang totoo,” he added.
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