BY RONNIE NATHANIELSZ

WE have always had the highest respect and regard for Mr. Manuel V. Pangilinan and have marveled at his passionate support for Philippine sports both at the collegiate and national level and the commitment of resources to several sports.

We have stood firmly by him in his long and debilitating struggle with the Basketball Association of the Philippines and his efforts to gain recognition by the international governing body for basketball, Fiba, and the redemption of the Philippines? stature internationally. That is why taking issue with the plans announced by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Noli Eala for the Philippine national pool under Serbian coach Rajko Toroman isn?t an easy task. But it has to be done no matter what some of our valued friends may feel because our primary responsibility is to the public and not any single individual or group.

To begin with, the ?offer sheets? reportedly tendered to 18 selected young players to sign in exchange for being pampered like Philippine Basketball Association pros contain one strikingly onerous and illegal provision, which requires a player, who decides to terminate his contract before it ends, to compensate the SBP in the total amount of three times his annual compensation at the very least. Simply put, if a player receiving P100,000 a month decides to terminate his contract one month after the contract becomes effective, he would have to pay the SBP the amount of P3.6 million!

Besides, contrary to a published claim, there are absolutely no penalties stipulated in the offer sheet should a player be pre-terminated. And offer sheets, in practice, become an integral part of a player?s contract.

What is even more disturbing is the public announcement that Pangilinan will bankroll the players? compensation amounting to P74 million over three years. It does nothing to help assuage the feelings of other athletes who, in the past two decades, have complained bitterly over the patent discrimination in favor of coddled and pampered basketball players.

How, for instance, will a boxer who makes far greater sacrifices day in and day out in a relentless training grind compared to a basketball player and gets effectively beaten up in the process feel when he receives a monthly allowance of P8,000, which is a pittance compared to a national pool rookie, who gets a minimum of P100,000? It further complicates matters since Pangilinan is now chairman of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines and his trusted executive Ricky Vargas is president.

If indeed they are determined to produce boxers capable of bringing our country an elusive Olympic gold medal, maybe Vargas should get Mr. Pangilinan to commit the same amount of money?P74 million?to train 18 boxers over the next three years for the London Olympics. Quite frankly, they would have a much better chance of winning medals in the Asian Games, World Championships and Olympics than our basketball team which, even if it succeeds?and that?s a big if?can win only one single medal.

The fundamental question is whether they will treat our boxers who are predominantly from poor families in the same manner as they treat the basketball players from elite schools such as Ateneo and La Salle and who come from well-to-do families or will we see an unfortunate and perceptible underscoring of social and economic differences?

How do we expect to motivate our track and field stars, taekwondo jins, tennis players and others who draw a monthly allowance of P8,000 from the Philippine Sports Commission to strive to do their best against such blatant discrimination?

Despite all the rhetoric, what the pampering of the basketball players does is to subvert the effort to attract talented young men and women into other individual and team sports, where there is a harvest of medals to be won.

Besides, while basketball is indeed a national passion among millions of Filipinos, the reality is that the Philippines? chances of domination in Asia alone are infinitesimal. It?s so unlike the glory days of Caloy Loyzaga, the late Lauro Murmar and the other greats who competed fiercely for the honor and privilege of representing the country and not for the money which is apparently the attraction in these distressingly material times. Where indeed are the values and virtues of years gone by? Have they, too, been swept away by the overall ruination of the character of our national society where unmitigated graft and corruption and abuse of position and power are a daily occurrence?

Despite the pious protestations of being all in this together, there appears to be an insidious effort to hurt the PBA by preventing the top 18 players chosen for the national pool from playing in the pro league except as members of a guest team. Even this was not first cleared with the PBA as common courtesy demands. No matter how they try to skin the cat, the fact remains that for the next three years at least, the PBA will not be able to attract emerging talents to its annual draft, which kickstarts interest at the opening of the season.

Perhaps, the PBA board should study the implications of the plans outlined by the SBP, which seems odd considering that Mr. Pangilinan has the Talk N Text team and will soon have an interest in a second team, Burger King, in the PBA.

It seems to us that since the Tropang Texters is such a strong team with an excellent coach in Chot Reyes and Burger King is a tall, athletic and young squad that will be mentored by the fiery Yeng Guiao, they may not need reinforcements for the next three years. The strategy may well be to deprive the other PBA teams of an infusion of exciting, new talent. Smart move, indeed.