Narvasa steps down as PBA commissioner

Newly-installed PBA board chairman Ricky Vargas told the media on Sunday that Chito Narvasa will resign as commissioner. (Photo by Angelo6397 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA — Barely 30 minutes before the PBA season officially begins, the league’s board of governors dropped a huge bomb.

Newly-installed PBA board chairman Ricky Vargas told the media on Sunday that Chito Narvasa will resign as commissioner.

“This morning, he submitted his resignation, which was effective today,” Vargas, who represents TNT, said through a press conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

However, Vargas added, “The PBA board, in a resolution passed today, has Chito Narvasa sustained until the end of the year to help us during the transition.

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On what transpired in the past few days leading to Narvasa’s resignation, Vargas said, “We reached out to Commissioner Narvasa, and we made amends that needed to be clarified and worked out on his personal hurts on the process. We thank him for all his contributions to the PBA.”

In the process, Willie Marcial, the PBA media bureau chief, was appointed OIC while the process of finding the league’s new commissioner is underway.

Narvasa’s two-season tenure as commissioner was met with controversies, especially with some of his policies from the banning of Spin.PH reporter Snow Badua to cover the games to a hair rule for female ballers during the defunct PBA women’s 3-on-3 tournament to the approval of the Kia-San Miguel trade that made the latter the new owner of the first pick of the recent draft, which turned out to be Chris Standhardinger.

The green light to push through with the swap, however, sparked a call made by a majority bloc consisting of the board governors of TNT, NLEX, Meralco, Blackwater, Alaska, Rain Or Shine, and Phoenix to withdraw its support to Narvasa.

The board members of the other five teams, however, sided with Narvasa, leading to an impasse that was eventually resolved with Narvasa’s resignation.

“We’re back together, stronger than ever,” said Vargas, who later revealed that he and NLEX Ramoncito Fernandez, the supposed board chairman for the new season, agreed to swap places. Fernandez will be the PBA board chairman for the 2022 season. (PNA)