Yeng Guiao and Alfrancis Chua were at the center of a heated argument during the customary postgame handshake of Rain or Shine’s Game 4 win over Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals on Wednesday night.
The Elasto Painters submitted a consistent showing en route to a 97-85 rout to tie things up at two games apiece, but it somehow became a footnote as the two figures got into a spat that began all the way back to the opening period.
“Akala ko, makiki-handshake siya,” Guiao said of what happened as he spoke in the postgame press conference at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“Nilapitan ko si Coach Tim. Nag-handshake kami. Tapos lumapit siya, tinanong niya ‘ko kung ano raw ang problema ko sa kanya. Sabi ko, ‘wag mo lang kakausapin ang referees,” he added, detailing what happened during that situation.
Guiao and Chua, both of whom have headed BCAP in the past, got into a verbal exchange early in the bout, with the former explaining that he only asked the latter to stop talking to the referees working on the game.
“I feel as a governor, it’s not his job to keep talking to the referees in such an intimidating way. Never ginawa ‘yun ni Atty. Mert,” he said, about long-time RoS Governor, Atty. Mert Mondragon. “Ang layo ng behavior.
“Maybe sometimes baka paminsan-minsan madala siya ng emosyon, but not every time,” he added.
“Tao rin naman ‘yang mga ‘yan, minsan may bugso ng emosyon. Pero, you cannot do that for Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4.”
And things would turn from bad to worse, according to Guiao, as he accused the San Miguel Corporation sports director of cursing at him.
“Tapos from afar, tinawag niya ‘kong ulol,” the former politician said. “‘Yun lang naman sinabi ko. Nagkasagutan kami. I think marami namang nakawitness. I was just asking him to stop talking to the referees. ‘Yun lang ‘yon.
“‘Di ko naman siya minura. Sabi ko lang ‘wag mo kausapin ang referees, which is a fair statement kasi nakaka-intimidate ‘yun. And in a close series where there are a lot of calls that can determine the game, I’m protecting my team.”
Guiao said that while he understands how emotional players and coaches could get in dealing with the referees, especially during certain situations, team governors like Chua should restrain themselves as much as possible.
“I feel in terms of demeanor and ethics, ‘yung board, kung kaya nila pigilan ‘yung emotions nila, they should just leave that to their coaching staff and to the players, kung gusto mag-reklamo ng players,” he said.
