By Jonas Terrado - Manila Bulletin - July 29, 2008
University of the East yesterday put its money where its mouth is and paid a cash bond of P100,000 to the UAAP technical committee to formalize its protest following its defeat to Far Eastern University last Saturday which it said was caused by poor officiating.
UE claimed that a referee’s decision to count the basket made by FEU’s Marlon Adolfo in the last few minutes of the game may have affected the outcome.
According to UE, the shot was made after the 24-second shot clock had already lapsed. UE based its protest on TV replays which it said showed the ball still in Adolfo’s hands as the shot clock expired.
Adolfo’s basket with 3:31 remaining cut UE’s lead to 62-61. The Tamaraws eventually won the match, 71-69 for its fourth victory in five starts.
UE’s protest, however, appeared doomed after UAAP commissioner Chito Narvasa commented yesterday that he saw nothing wrong with the referee’s decision.
"As far as I’m concerned, I don’t see anything that could merit a protest," said Narvasa.
Narvasa has until noon today to make a formal decision.
UE stands to lose the P100,000 bond if Narvasa junks the protest. But it will be returned should Narvasa decide that the case has merit.
The issue before Narvasa, observers believe, is to decide whether a referee’s error or bad judgment in the last 3 minutes and 31 seconds of a game can affect its outcome.
"We’ve presented the facts, there were major technical errors committed in the last three minutes," UE mentor Dindo Pumaren said. "We’ll just wait for the decision."
The UAAP instituted the P100,000 cash bond this year to discourage the filing of protests that may have no merit at all. UE is the first school to file a protest and pay the bond.
"The cash bond is a way to discourage teams from protesting," said Narvasa. "Sometimes, teams file a protest and the reasons didn’t even affect the outcome of the game."
In the event Narvasa rejects UE’s protest, the Warriors can pursue the case to the UAAP board. Once received, the board will have one week to decide.
Meanwhile, UAAP secretary-treasurer Herc Callanta said that UAAP is still waiting for reports from the police before they could issue any statement regarding the shooting incident involving FEU’s Mac Baracael.
"There’s nothing to report because we’re depending on their investigation," Callanta noted. "So far there’s no report from the police."
The Manila police are still facing a blank wall as to the motive behind the shooting. Police also don’t have any suspect yet.
Baracael was shot Thursday night after team practice near the school’s gymnasium by an unidentified gunman. Baracael has been declared out of danger but remains in the hospital under heavy guard by school security.
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