Disbarred Noli Eala quits as PBA commissioner
Jose Emmanuel "Noli" Eala has resigned from his post as commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association, barely a week after the Supreme Court disbarred him for having had sexual relations with a married woman, according to report aired by DZMM on Tuesday. Eala resigned publicly, reading a formal statement in a press conference held at the PBA commissioner's office. He said he quit to make it easier for his family, especially his children, to cope with the situation, and hopefully, to shield the PBA from any negative perception. In his statement, Eala said: "I have made hard decisions in my life, decisions which I always take full responsibility for. Recent events in my personal and private life have necessitated that I make another hard decision today. "To ease the pain of the people who matter most to me, my family esp[ecially] my children and to shield the league I truly care for with so much passion from any erroneous perceptions related to my disbarment case in the SC, I am today tendering my immediate resignation as Commissioner of the PBA. "It is a painful decision brought about by a painful personal circumstance, but I have always believed that the PBA is bigger than any one man, one team, one player or one team owner." Player agent Danny Espiritu, a friend of Eala's, said he was saddened on learning of Eala's resignation. But in a live phone interview aired on Tuesday over PTV's Teledyaryo Sports, he admired Eala's voluntary resignation. "That's the best move... rather than waiting for the [PBA] board of governors to decide his fate," Espiritu said. Eala arrived Monday from Tokushima, Japan, where the Philippine team finished ninth in the just concluded 2007 FIBA Asia men's basketball tournament. Last week the PBA Committee on Ethics, led by Rene Pardo, met and discussed the issue regarding Eala. Pardo said that the committee decided to ask the board of governors to invite Eala to explain. But the board met on Monday morning and according to a source voted 6-3 to sack Eala. This was the reason, according to several sources, why Eala decided to resign. Earlier, on August 1, the Supreme Court disbarred Eala whom it found to have "immorally" maintained sexual relations with a married woman. The case for disbarment was filed even before Eala became PBA commissioner. In a nine-page per curiam decision, the high tribunal set aside a resolution of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines board of governors dismissing a disbament case against Eala. Instead, magistrates found that Eala, a married man himself, "showed disrespect for an institution held sacred by the law" and "betrayed his unfitness to be a lawyer." Eala admitted having a relationship with Irene Moje, then the wife of complainant Joselano Guevarra, but had insisted that it was "low profile and known only to members of their respective families." He also admitted personal knowledge about the certificate of live birth of his daughter with Moje. The SC ruled that it was "sufficiently prove[n] that there was indeed an illicit relationship between respondent and Irene which resulted in the birth of the child." It noted that Eala never denied having an adulterous relationship with Moje. What Eala only said, the SC said, was that he never flaunted their affair. "Without doubt, the adulterous relationship between respondent and Irene has been sufficiently proven by more than clearly preponderant evidence," the high bench said. - GMANews.TV