By JONAS TERRADO
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas won’t impose penalties on amateur cagers caught playing in a five-on-five game which is still prohibited under the current quarantine guidelines imposed by the government.
SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios said Gilas Pilipinas pool member Isaac Go and Japan league-bound Thirdy Ravena, were reprimanded after they were taking part in a pickup game held at the Ronac gym in San Juan City.
“Wala kaming iniisip na penalty or fine,” Barrios said during the online session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum. “Definitely, napagsabihan sila ni (SBP President Al Panlilio) at (director for operations Butch Antonio) na itigil niyo na yang pinaggagagawa niyo na hindi ayon sa regulations at nakakahiya tayo.”
Ginebra’s Peter Aguilar and Rain or Shine rookie Adrian Wong were fined P20,000 each by PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial and were told to undergo swab testing followed by a 14-day quarantine for participating in the said pickup game.
Recreational basketball games are banned under the General Community Quarantine guidelines imposed on Metro Manila, though the Inter-Agency Task Force gave go-signal for PBA teams to resume practices under strict health measures.
Other basketball leagues, namely the MPBL, the collegiate leagues like the UAAP and NCAA and regional tournaments are not included in the approval, and Barrios said the SBP plans to issue an advisory once the federation receives an official copy of the IATF approval.
“We cannot really plan concretely what to do without specific guidelines, especially from the authorities,” said Barrios.