Chito Narvasa will no longer serve as PBA commissioner after majority of the league’s board members decided not to support the extension of his term.
Incoming PBA chairman Ramoncito Fernandez announced the development on Thursday during a special PBA board meeting attended by representatives from seven PBA teams, namely Alaska, Blackwater, Meralco, NLEX, Phoenix, Rain or Shine and TNT.
Curiously, no one from GlobalPort, Kia and the SMC group–Barangay Ginebra, San Miguel and Star–was present.
Narvasa’s appointment is determined on a yearly basis, needing at least eight out of the possible 12 votes from the board for him to retain his job.
Fernandez clarified that the board didn’t expel Narvasa as it would need eight votes to approve such move. But with seven board members not endorsing his term extension, Narvasa will not get enough votes to stay as commissioner.
Fernandez said “loss of confidence” was the main reason behind the PBA board’s decision.
Just recently, Narvasa came under fire for approving the controversial trade between Kia and San Miguel which saw the already-loaded Beermen select Filipino-German big man Christian Standhardinger with the No.1 pick in the PBA Draft.
In the deal, the Picanto received three seldom-used SMB players.
Narvasa, a former coach, assumed the post in 2015. During his term, the league tweaked some rules on officiating which, according to many fans, compromised the games’ physicality and excitement.
Apart from the Kia-SMB trade, Narvasa also gave the green light to some controversial deals. One of which was involving Blackwater which in 2014 gave away its first round pick in a three-team deal in exchange for role player Larry Rodriguez and TNT’s first round pick.
Blackwater’s pick turned out to be the first pick in the 2015 draft which TNT used to select Mo Tautuaa. The Elite were able to nab Art Dela Cruz at No.9 in that same draft. Both Rodriguez and Dela Cruz are no longer part of Blackwater.
