Three days prior to the opening of the NCAA Season 98 tournament, University of the Philippines commit Mark Belmonte filed a criminal case against Jose Rizal University’s John Amores.
The “serious physical injury” case was received by Amores.
Still, the 23-year-old JRU senior was allowed to play by his school in the NCAA.
NCAA Management Committee Fr. Vic Calvo, OP of Letran explained why the eligibility committee allowed Amores to play despite having a case.
Fr. Calvo said that the documents were not presented to them by JRU. Moreover, the incident did not happen in the NCAA but in the UCBL.
“We have to review the facts because we haven’t received a formal complaint, meaning kami sa NCAA. We heard it in the news but it’s in another league. We decide within the parameters kung saan kami merong authority. Hindi naman kami puwede makialam dun sa kabila,” Fr. Calvo said on GMA’s Unang Hirit.
“Kung binigay sana yung information ahead of time, it will greatly affect the decision.”
This was the same case as why the UAAP did not sanction anyone from Far Eastern University and De La Salle University when the two varsity squads figured in a brawl in Davao back in 2017.
Four months after the incident in the UCBL, Amores once again got into a mess, hitting four College of Saint Benilde players in a one-man melee.
It resulted in him being dealt an indefinite suspension.
According to Fr. Calvo, even if the punishment was not a lifetime banishment, it would be hard for Amores to be reinstated in the Grand Old League.
“It’s just giving a small opening to the player to consider the due process na binibigay namin sa kanya. Even if we have seen it in the video, we have not yet exhausted all angles that’s why we are giving him a small opening,” Fr. Calvo told host Arnold Clavio.
“But I tell you, it’s easier for a camel to pass through the needle for him to be reinstated in the NCAA.”
