SURIGAO JOINING MBA
Manila, Nov. 7, 1998 - The 12 original team owners of the Metropolitan Basketball Association have met and agreed to admit Surigao as the third expansion team in the new league, to follow San Juan and Nueva Ecija.
he Surigao team will be financed by a group led by Sen. Robert Barbers. The team, which will be bracketed in the Southern Conference, will be coached by Manny Paner, starting center of Philippine teams in the '70s and husband of movie star Daisy Romualdez.
For the fourth and last slot of the MBA's first expansion, group will choose from Dipolog City, Leyte and Cavite, which will bring the roster to 16 teams next year.
The Revilla family (Governor Bong Revilla and Senator Ramon Revilla) are pushing for the acceptance of Cavite. A pharmaceutical firm is behind the Leyte bid.
Pangasinan Presidents co-owner Tim Orbos said the Cavite group, headed by Sen. Ramon Revilla and Gov. Bong Revilla, is so determined to join the league that they are willing to be grouped in the Southern Conference.
San Juan and Nueva Ecija, which will belong to the Northern Conference, are in the process of forming their teams for next year's MBA conference. Former Crispa aces Philip Cezar, the San Juan vice mayor, Atoy Co and Bernard Fabiosa are in-charge of forming the team to be a mixture of veterans and youngsters. Likely to be tapped are former Ginebra players Rudy Distrito, Joey Loyzaga and Macky de Joya not to mention Dudut Jaworski, who is a San Juan Councilor.
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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