DUE TO threats brought about by supertyphoon Yolanda, the Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists (CFBJ) Mayor’s Cup was moved to a later date.
According to CFBJ, the tournament’s lead organizer, the Alaska Aces, Barako Bull Energy Colas and GlobalPort Batang Pier decided to forego their trips to Cebu due to bad weather.
“For our part, we advised the teams not to go because of the bad weather. But it didn’t mean that we barred them from going to Cebu. Ang sa amin lang is for the safety of the teams and players. If they wanted to go then it is their prerogative,” said PBA Media Bureau chief Willy Marcial.
Alaska was the first PBA team to cancel its participation.
“We are also looking at the safety of our players. It’s better to cancel our flight for safety reasons,” Alaska team manager Dicky Bachmann said.
Barako Bull team manager Raffy Casyao said the team was really looking forward to playing in the tournament since they have yet to play a single tune-up game with the PBA All-Filipino Cup opening on Nov. 19.
“We really wanted to go. But if Alaska is not coming, there is no point of going there,” Casyao said.
The tournament is tentatively rescheduled on Nov. 10. /EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA