Following ban, SMC to 're-evaluate' its participation in the PBA

San Miguel Corporation is accepting the lifetime ban and the hefty fine of P250,000 levied on Petron Blaze import Renaldo Balkman. Whether the company will remain with the PBA is another matter.

Barely four hours after pro league commissioner Chito Salud came down hard on the 6-foot-8 Balkman for his complete meltdown last Friday, the business firm, one of the founding members of the league, and owner of three PBA teams, immediately released a strongly-worded statement Monday, even hinting of a possible pull-out.

“San Miguel Corporation would like to apologize to basketball fans and the Philippine Basketball Association, for the unsportsmanlike conduct shown by its import, Renaldo Balkman, last Friday, March 8. We accept the decision to ban Mr. Balkman for life from the league. We do not condone his actions. The mandate of our basketball operations has always been to entertain basketball fans and foster camaraderie and a spirit of healthy competition. We pride ourselves in having great teams who serve as good role models to the youth and community,” SMC stated.

However, San Miguel Corp. felt “the incident has been blown out of proportion,” spreading like wildfire through traditional and online media. 

“Our reputation is of utmost importance to us because we have worked hard to cultivate this good name through the decades. But it takes only one unfortunate incident like this to undo all our efforts.

“As such, given the possible long-term effect of this incident to the San Miguel organization's image, and in consideration of our need to preserve our good reputation, Management has decided to re-evaluate the company’s continuing participation in the PBA.

“Moving forward, we believe sports is a pillar of Philippine society and we will continue to support it and Filipino athletes in general in meaningful ways in and out of the PBA,” the firm stated.

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Meanwhile, Balkman’s agent, Sheryl Sanchez Reyes, was also up in arms, noting the decision as “very harsh and too much.”

“Very harsh decision if it is a life time ban, it will affect his international market and next job , I don't think it was fair, when (Wynne) Arboleda attacked a fan he only got 1 year ban , but with Renaldo it was life time it's too much,” posted Reyes on his official Facebook account.