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Sonny
Barrios, the Officer-In-Charge (OIC) of the Philippine Basketball
Association, expressed confidence that on Jan. 10, the Board
of Governors will come up with a final decision on the commissionership.
Unable
to get the required number of votes nearly three weeks back,
Barrios said that the long break somehow gave the nine voting
representatives to reassess who between Chito Salud and Lambert
Ramos should be the next league commissioner.
"With
the wisdom of the board, I'm sure that they will decide with
finality the commissionership," Barrios told the Bulletin
in a telephone interview.
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"Whoever
the board chooses, the league will be in a win-win situation.
Either Chito or Lambert, both are capable, knowledgeable
and has what it takes to guide the PBA to another level,"
Barrios added.
The
board failed to arrive at a decision last Dec. 17 when
it first tackled the issue, instead it rescheduled for
another meeting.
What
it accomplished, however, after interviewing and listening
to the respective programs of the nominees, was it trimmed
the number of candidates from three to two, eliminating
Patrick Gregorio in the race after the first round of
voting.
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Gregorio,
executive director of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP),
reportedly got a single vote from Talk n Text, while Salud
had five and Ramos with three votes.
In
the second round of voting, source said that Salud, a lawyer
and son of former league commissioner Rudy Salud, will got
five, while Ramos, currently president of NEXTEL, had four.
The
board came up with the same number of votes in the third round.
Then it decided to adjourn and set another meeting.
League
insiders said that Salud got his votes from Red Bull, Welcoat
Paints, Magnolia Beverage, Barangay Ginebra and Coca-Cola,
while Talk 'N Text, Air21, Alaska and Sta. Lucia Realty voted
for Ramos.
San
Miguel Corporation (SMC), which has three PBA teams, is allowed
to cast only two votes. Purefoods TJ Hotdogs is a non-voting
board member.
A
candidate must get the required number of three-fourths or
six votes to win the PBA commissionership.
"We're
not privy to the discussion of the board as far as who they'll
vote for when they meet again. But I'm sure they are discussing
this issue the past several days," Barrios said.
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