With Salud on board, PBA commissioner Barrios ready to step down

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Sonny Barrios broke his days of silence when he appeared to mediamen Sunday night during halftime of the Sta. Lucia Realty-Rain or Shine game at the Araneta Coliseum. He disclosed two important things during the press conference – to fast track the involvement of newly-appointed deputy commissioner Atty. Chito Salud as far as running the affairs of the league is concerned and to inform everyone that he is comfortable of stepping down as commissioner of the league with a very capable deputy on board.

"As you know, the commissioner serves at the pleasure of the board, but that goes both ways as the commissioner serves also at his pleasure," said Barrios. “Last year, the PBA had a planning session in Tagaytay in June of 2009. After the planning session, I had a meeting with the board and told them that I am evaluating myself at a year to year basis. Everyone was surprised." "But I just want to make it clear that if I ever I step down as commissioner, it won’t be because of performance," added Barrios, who was joined in the press con by Salud, incoming PBA chairman Rene Pardo of B-Meg Derby Ace and incoming vice chairman Atty. Mamerto Mondragon of Rain or Shine. Like some of the commissioners before him, Barrios made unpopular decisions, which include the elevation of a Flagrant Foul 1 to Flagrant Foul 2 that led to James Yap's one game suspension the 2007-2008 PBA Philippine Cup finals won by the Sta. Lucia Realtors. Barrios also slapped a P1-million fine to the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters for walking out during Game 4 of their quarterfinals match against the Barangay Ginebra Kings. He also drew the ire of San Miguel Beer, whose protest was junked after Talk 'N Text brought a wrong shade of uniform in an out-of-town game won by the Tropang Texters. "Controversies will always be there whoever the commissioner is," said Barrios. "We settled cases favorable to the PBA. At the end of the day, we made sure we will arrive at a correct decision even those controversial ones." Atty. Salud welcomed his appointment as a way to serve the PBA again. "I look forward to working again with the PBA family, looking forward to hopefully bring positive things to the PBA board and the Commissioner’s Office and making our league more dynamic and more responsive to the expectations of our basketball fans," said Salud. “I am here to help and I am here ready to take on any task that the board and the commissioner are minded to assign me," he added. Barrios not keen on finishing the season? According to Barrios, he served five conferences and in those five, the board has granted the Office of the Commissioner performance bonus. "If ever I don’t get one in my sixth conference, that’s 5-out-of-6 or an average of more than 83 percent, which I believe is definitely not bad," said Barrios, who also worked with former commissioners Rudy Salud, Chito’s father, and the late Jun Bernardino. Barrios, who worked for the PBA for 18 years prior to his appointment as officer-in-charge to replace Noli Eala in August 2007, said that with the younger Salud on board, he can step down anytime from now. "As to the question of when I am stepping down, I have no specific time frame, but with Chito on board, I can say that I can aggressively pursue my personal plans," said Barrios. The outgoing commissioner said his two daughters got married in 2008 in New York while his son followed in December the following year. Barrios said he wants to enjoy his senior years spending time with his grandchildren. "It’s going to be a long weekend next week and I hope I can use it to visit my house in Baguio. I’ve spent several years in the United States and I am planning to retire there in our Baguio residence," said Barrios. Whether Barrios will come back after his vacation or use this as an opportunity to officially step down from his post remains to be seen. But a highly-placed source from the league who requested anonymity said Barrios may not finish the remainder of the 2009-2010 PBA season. "I think the commissioner is now beginning to condition his mind that he’s stepping down. And with Chito around, it’s a good time to step down," said the source. Barrios said the younger Salud has not been in touch with the PBA for the past two years. But Salud and Barrios have worked together in 2007 when the latter was still the PBA's officer-in-charge. "Since Chito told me he hasn’t been in touch with the PBA for the past two years, our immediate plan is to bring hi up to speed and update him on the plans, programs and what’s happening in the PBA. He will join us (on Monday) and meet with the management guys and get himself involved in decision making," said Barrios. "We have to tell him what we’re doing right now, so that he can help on how we can improve on other things. But basically, we want to ask his thoughts on what are the things we need to do in the near future like officiating, marketing and operations," he added. Salud writes PBA history Barrios clarified that Salud is the third deputy commissioner of the PBA. His father, Atty. Rudy, was then the league's chief legal counsel at the time when Tommy Manotoc was serving as deputy commissioner. When Manotoc left the country in 1987, the elder Salud became concurrent chief legal counsel and deputy commissioner. "Chito’s entry made the 35th season of the PBA more special as he didn’t only become the third deputy commissioner, but also made history in having the first father and son to assume the deputy commissioner post in the league," said Barrios. Salud sees no problem working with Barrios and promises to work closely both with him and the board of governors. "This will be my third stint in the PBA. The second being as legal consultant of then OIC Barrios, then also as a member of the selection committee that chose people who were short listed. But unknown to many of you, my first stint was being the first ball boy of the PBA back in 1975 for then commissioner Leo Prieto," said Salud, who didn’t meet the required number of votes for the position of commissioner before and instead was asked to join the selection committee that shortlisted candidates. But did Salud expect to be offered a key position again? "No, I didn’t expect to be offered again," he said. "My feeling right now is I am elated to join the PBA family and I am extremely grateful to the board of governors for giving me the trust and confidence." "As I've told you before, I joined the selection process for candidates for the position of the commissioner with my eyes wide open, knowing the parameters of qualifications and for acceptance and obviously, I didn't meet the qualifications in terms of number of votes needed." - JVP, Rey Joble, GMANews.TV