27 August 2016

Is She Really Gone?

PBA
The controversial marketing chief of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) was reported to have already left. League commissioner Chito Narvasa said in a statement last 25 August that Rhose Montreal has "expressed her desire to pursue other interests which the PBA agreed to. The PBA wishes to thank her for her contributions and wishes her well in her new undertakings."

What these 'new undertakings' will be or if it will sill be connected with the PBA are not clear. Narvasa's statement did not as well who will take over Montreal's post as Marketing Director.

It will be recalled that Montreal submitted documents to the PBA showing she graduated from UP with cum laude honors. The documents were confirmed to be spurious. It was later discovered that she never finished at UP. When the fraud was uncovered, Montreal beat the firing squad by resigning. Then, she reapplied and begged for a second chance.

Last March 2016, the PBA relented and gave her back her post "primarily, among others, for humanitarian reasons because of her exemplary performance."

The decision was met with criticism by the public, with Alaska Aces team owner Fred Uytengsu declaring Montreal's re-hiring as something that "speaks poorly of the PBA as a professional organization."

Under the law, falsifying public documents is a crime and punishable by a prison sentence and/or fine. It's a grievous offense. In Montreal’s case, UP could take her to court because she misused or compromised the institution’s good name for her personal benefit. Montreal wouldn’t have a leg to stand on in court if she's charged because the evidence is foolproof. Someone said Montreal was actually a UP student and enrolled in lawyer Lelen Berberabe’s class. She didn't finish her studies at UP and it's not known if she even graduated.

What raised more eyebrows was Montreal's indiscretion of maintaining a relationship with another controversial PBA figure, referee Edward Aquino. Aquino has been suspected several times of favoring one team with his alleged bias decisions which resulted in several PBA disciplinary actions including suspensions.

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