Meralco senior vice president Al Panlilio is set to take over from outgoing PBA chairman Mon Segismundo as Bolts representative to the Board of Governors starting with the 40th season which unfolds in October.
A source said Panlilio, head of the power firm’s customer retail services and president of the MVP Sports Foundation, will come in at the same time as former Talk ‘N Text mentor Norman Black, who moved as Bolts head coach a few weeks ago, replacing Ryan Gregorio, and former Alaska Aces coach Luigi Trillo, now an assistant coach at Meralco.
Gregorio reportedly will share the post of Bolts alternate governor with Meralco chief finance officer Betty Siy-Yap in lieu of Butch Antonio, now deputy director for international affairs at the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
Jong Uichico, who joined Meralco last year after parting ways with San Miguel Corporation, has been named TNT coach much earlier but has yet to scrimmage with the Tropang Texters due to his commitment as an assistant to Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes for the 17th FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain late this month.
Black, still vacationing with his family in Baltimore but will be joining the national team in Spain, is also on the same boat.
Segismundo, under whose term the PBA welcomed two new franchises in Kia Motors and Blackwater Sports, as well as a new team in NLEX, which purchased the Air21 Express, will refocus on his demanding job as senior vice president and head of Meralco’s human resources and corporate services.
The personnel shuffle among the PBA ballclubs owned by Smart-PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan also brought former Talk ‘N Text team manager Paolo Trillo over to Meralco as team manager, joining elder brother Luigi, and former Ateneo Blue Eagle Magnum Membrere to the Tropang Texters as assistant team manager, with Gilas TM Aboy Castro as TNT management consultant.
Official announcement on coaching and managerial positions at NLEX remains under wraps although San Beda Red Lions coach Boyet Fernandez is reportedly being eyed to handle the PBA Road Warriors, whose D-League counterparts he steered to several championships the previous seasons.
Ramoncito Fernandez, president and CEO of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., will be the Road Warriors’ representative to the PBA board, with NLEX president Rod Franco and MPTC chief finance officer Chris Lizo as alternate governors, and NLEX finance manager Ronald Dolatre as team manager.
Former De La Salle coach Virgil Villavicencio continues to head the MVP Sports media department.