VisMin slaps lifetime ban on Siquijor coach and players

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

After almost two months of thorough investigation, the Pilipinas Vismin Super Cup officials and the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) have decided to impose a lifetime ban on Siquijor coach Joel Palapal and some of their players.

Following their controversial game against the Lapu-Lapu ARQ Builders, VisMin Super Cup COO Rocky Chan and GAB chairman Abraham Mitra finalized the lifetime ban violation they ordered against Siquijor.

Aside from Chan and Mitra, a special investigative panel was put up to assess what really happened in the game between Lapu-Lapu and Siquijor.

According to the final investigative report, all Siquijor players except for Miguel Castellano, Julius Tangkay, and Michael Sereno, who were not present in the playing court, and head coach Palapal are barred from the league.

The investigative panel for the Siquijor-Lapu-Lapu controversy described the first half as “the worst two quarters of basketball we’ve seen in the nearly 60 years of collective basketball experience.”

Included in the players receiving the lifetime ban is former Ateneo Blue Eagle superstar Ryan Buenafe.

However, the former star claimed that he was nursing an injury and even appealed to the VisMin Super Cup officials to have his ban lifted.