Justine Baltazar regrets what transpired over the past month, when he was unable to head to Seoul and join the Samsung Thunders – eventually earning a ban from the Korean Basketball League for two years.
“Humihingi ako ng paumanhin sa bumubuo ng Samsung Seoul Thunders. Alam ko po na naagrabyado sila sa nangyari. Humihingi rin ako ng paumanhin sa KBL at sa kapwa nating Pinoy sa Korea,” read Baltazar’s statement.
“Hindi po sa akin nasabi po ng malinaw ang mga dapat po gawin para maayos ang papeles ko papunta run.”
(I apologize to the management of Samsung Seoul Thunders. I am aware that they were upset with what happened. I also apologize to KBL and to our fellow Filipinos in Korea. It wasn’t clearly communicated to me what needs to be done to properly process my papers to go there.)
Fingers were pointed on who to blame for the mishap that happened between Baltazar and Samsung Seoul.
Blame shifted to Strong Group for bringing Baltazar to Dubai despite knowing that he had committed to playing in Korea. Ditto for Pilipinas Super League team Pampanga G Lanterns, who has Baltazar in their lineup.
But Baltazar explained that he had already committed to playing for Strong Group a few days after his release by Hiroshima last December. Moreover, he asked the team’s management headed by Jacob Lao if he could leave for Korea by January 31, which is why his ticket to Dubai was just one-way.
Strong Group granted his request.
Baltazar also alleged that his agent Mark Dickel also knew about this and was able to relay the information to Samsung Seoul.
“Nung January po ako nag-sign ng contract sa Korea through agent Mark Dickel,” he shared.
“Sinabi ko naman po na may commitment ako sa Strong Group sa Dubai hanggang February 5 at na-acknowledge naman nila pero pinayagan din ako ng Strong Group na umalis ng maaga.”
(On January, I signed a contract to play in Korea through agent Mark Dickel. I informed them that I had a commitment with the Strong Group in Dubai until February 5, and they acknowledged it but Strong Group also allowed me to leave early.)
Though it was concluded by KBL’s disciplinary committee that Baltazar acted in ‘bad faith’ that resulted in his banning, the 25-year-old native of Pampanga said that he tried to obtain the necessary documents for him to gain a working visa for Korea.
“After ko mag-sign ng contract inasikaso na namin ang visa. Matagal talaga ang proseso ng visa at sa Pampanga po ako nakatira,” said Baltazar, who underwent the same process when he obtained a Japanese visa when he played for Hiroshima.
“Hanggang sa araw na pagalis namin (papuntang Dubai) hindi kami naka-apply dahil balik-balik ang mga hingi ng visa requirements hanggang sa araw na umalis kami. Hindi rin daw makakuha ng appointment sa visa kasi nag sarado yung embassy nung Chinese New Year.“
(After signing the contract, we started processing the visa. The visa process takes a long time and I was staying in Pampanga. Until the day of our departure, we were unable to apply because the visa requirements kept adding up. On the day of our departure, we were unable to get an appointment for the visa because the embassy was closed for the Chinese New Year.)
Still, Baltazar was confident that he would be able to make it to Seoul.
Baltazar claims though that he was not informed about the KBL’s February 2 deadline for player registration when he signed.
“Sa mga unang usapan po bago magpirmahan para sa Korea, wala naman sinabi sa amin na kailangan pumunta roon by February 2. After na lang namin na laman yun,” he said.
“Never ko rin po nakausap ang Samsung kahit isang beses. Si (Mark) Dickel lang ang nag-tetext sa amin.”
(In the initial discussions before signing for Korea, there was no mention of a deadline to go there by February 2. We only found about it out later. I have never talked to Samsung, not even once. Dickel was the only one who updates us.)
Baltazar has accepted that he now has to live with the repercussions of what happened.
And he is deeply apologetic and full of regret.
