Cesafi commissioner Tiukinhoy wants league president to reject SWU’s contention

Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy suggested to Cesafi president Rev. Fr. Enrico Peter Silab, OAR of the University of San Jose-Recoletos that the appeal of Southwestern University regarding the removal of the PBA D-League from the list of tournaments that would disqualify student players from playing in the league be dismissed.

SWU recently obtained a document from PBA commissioner Angelico “Chito” Salud that stated “The PBA D-League is not a professional league. It is composed of school-based and commercial teams alike, none of whom are professional teams.”

SWU’s main contention is to let their prized recruit, Chris Dumapig, who formerly suited up for the Cafe France Bakers in the 2012 PBA D-League Aspirants Cup, be able to suit up for the Cobras of head coach Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba in the Cesafi tournament, which starts in a few months time.

Earlier this year, Dumapig was deemed ineligible to play for the Cobras by virtue of his stint in the D-League.

This development occurred in light of the recent amendments that were made to the existing rules and regulations of the Cesafi.

One rule that was amended states that “a player that has been paid in any professional league or semi-professional league such as PBA, PBL, Liga Pilipinas, PBA D-League is not eligible to play in any Cesafi tournament.” Previously, the rule did not include the PBA D-League.

Tiukinhoy, the commissioner since 2001, remained adamant that the D-League remained on the list. “The letter of Atty. Salud only mentioned that the D-League is not a professional league but our rules say that a player playing in a semi-professional league such as the D-League is not allowed.”

In his letter to Silab, Tiukinhoy said the D-League has its roots from the now-defunct Philippine Basketball League.

“The purpose of this league when it was organized was to be a farm team for players wanting to play in the PBA. So, all players who want to play in the PBA will first have to play in the PBA D-League to be able to qualify for drafting to play in the PBA.”

He also surmised that teams in the D-League “pay their players salaries, allowances and sometimes, board and lodging in order to allow the players to make a living.”

In Salud’s letter that arrived May 6, he clarified the matter regarding salaries. “The players are not required to have contracts to draw salaries but do receive allowances for food, transportation and housing.”

SWU athletic director Ryan Aznar, meanwhile, vowed to pursue the matter further in the upcoming meeting of the Board of Trustees.