PHILIPPINE National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) president Tony Boy Liao addressed recent grievances raised by sporting stakeholders surrounding the body and the national teams.
At the heart of those immediate concerns is the controversial Alas Pilipinas draft proposal which seeks to give the national team first crack at exclusively securing the services of select rookies from the upcoming PVL Draft class for a minimum of two years.
PNVF treasurer Ricky Palou previously told SPIN.ph that he will push for the Alas draft to be scrapped and proceed with a direct approach to preferred players, with Liao refuting the claim that the draft has already been abolished altogether.
READ: Jia says players shouldn't have to pick between Alas, pro careers
Liao now bared that the next course of action amid conflicting stances is to take the matter to all 10 PVL clubs and see where they now stand, a clear shift from his once-adamant and seemingly unshakable first stance.
“‘Yung sa draft, we will sit down with the club teams, inform them kung anong magiging decision,” Liao told reporters on Thursday.
“We haven't met with the club teams yet. Most probably, like this Saturday, I plan to talk with [Rebisco vice chairman and CEO] Jonathan [Ng]. I've set up an appointment so I can talk with him. We’ll update you with the final news.”
Status quo, however, still leans towards the original iteration of the Alas draft given that a PNVF board resolution formalized that decision.
“It was a board resolution. It was approved na ganun ang mangyayari, so we will still follow that kasi nga hindi mo pwedeng baguhin eh,” Liao added.
“Board na nag-approve eh. The federation is not ran by one person. It is ran by the board.”
’The real enemy’
Vocal in recent days towards pertinent issues, not only on the Alas draft but towards the general welfare of national team players now and soon are the likes of Alas Women captain Jia de Guzman and Fifi Sharma.
Liao, however, made a unifying call reiterating that the target shouldn’t be his administration, nor is their target the athletes.
As has been the case with recent remarks made, the blame game is aimed at former PNVF president Ramon ‘Tats’ Suzara.
“Ang kalaban namin dito, hindi players. Ang kalaban namin dito, ‘yung nagpapatakbo ng past administration dahil ‘yun nga ‘yung problema na pinasok namin,” Liao said.
He did pose a challenge not only to Sharma and de Guzman but to the original core of national team players on whether they’ll set their qualms aside to reaffirm their commitment for the country.
“When it comes to the players, ako, I don't want to comment on that. Alam mo, malalaki na ‘yan. ‘Yung pag-iisip nila, kung sa tingin nila ganyan, so be it,” he added.
“They've been saying, may nabasa ako, they've been happy with the formation of this team. My question now is, ‘okay, if we invite you again to play for the national team, are you always [available to] play?’ That's the only question. Sila na sumagot.
“Kung gusto pa nila maglaro, Kung ayaw nila maglaro na, thank you. There are a lot of players who want to play for the national team. Hindi lang naman sila eh. It's just so happened na sila ‘yung napiling pool mula nu’ng SEA Games […] Kung ayaw na nila, hindi naman sila pwede pilitin.
“Once we write a letter to the club informing them that I want this player and that player, the club will talk with the player. If they want to play, kung sabihin ng player, ‘ayaw na namin,’ sabihin ng club sa’min, ayaw na nila. Okay, thank you.”
Similar to what the PNVF-issued statement on Tuesday wrote, Liao reaffirmed the openness of his leadership to face these grievances head on.
This was contrary to what national team stakeholders past and present raised to SPIN.ph, citing how their own requests for dialogue fell on deaf ears and were even ‘snubbed’ when they would cross paths in person.
But Liao stood firm this time, saying that social media shouldn’t be the way to go.
“We are open anytime if we want to sit down. Ang problema kasi nga, they use social media, ‘di ba? We are open. We can always set up a meeting, sit down with that,” Liao said.
“If they want to, let's say, okay, Jia is the captain, she can lead the team, if they want to talk with us, fine, let's talk. Let's sit down," he continued.
“Ang problema, they use social media, ‘di ba? They say this, they say that. Fine with that, hindi naman kami mamamatay eh."
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