Torion gets green light to play again in the PBA

by Agnes R. Cruz

Torion

Batang Red Bull’s controversial point guard Jimwell Torion can flash his brilliance once again on the hardcourt. This came after the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) lifted the ban on Torion who was earlier tested positive for taking illegal drugs. League commissioner Noli Eala said the prized cager was declared eligible to play in the PBA Asian Invitational Championships after complying with the pro league’s guidelines and showing good conduct during the period of his suspension. “We’ve evaluated the case of Jimwell and have also received a copy of his appeal for reinstatement. The board has agreed to reinstate Jimwell,” said Eala. “We’re also happy with his progress and the way he handled his personal problems. Now he can settle down in his career and prove to all that he can be a good role model to follow.” Eala said other suspended PBA cagers should abide by the PBA rules on drug use to hasten their reinstatement. Eala said despite the strict guidelines, the PBA is looking at giving a clean slate to all drug offenders next season. A total of 10 have tested positive for illegal drugs in the league’s continuing campaign to rid the country’s most popular sport of the drug menace.

Aside from Torion, Talk N Text’s Asi Taulava, San Miguel center Dorian Peña, who had been slapped a two-game suspension for marijuana use in the pre-season, Red Bull star Davonn Harp, Barangay Ginebra forward Jun Limpot, Talk N Text backups Noli Locsin, Angelo David and Norman Gonzales, and FedEx slotman Ryan Bernardo all failed the test. Three team utility men along with FedEx physical therapist Kenneth Dichoso also failed the drug test. Taulava and Peña, who tested positive for traces of marijuana, were suspended for two games while Torion, Gonzalez and Crisano, who tested positive for higher-grade substances, got indefinite suspensions.

The biggest surprise in the catch is Ginebra star Limpot who said he had never seen shabu before. Limpot, whose lifestyle is starkly contrasted to the issue that now hounds him, said he had never touched drugs and pointed to a prescribed medicine for sinus and cough as possibly the culprit behind his positive test for a prohibited drug last May 20. The veteran slotman said he started taking Rhinofront on the advice of his doctor last May 13 and finished his medication on May 20. His urine sample yielded traces of a substance similar to substances found in illegal drugs. Taulava and Peña were tested positive for drug use just before the PBA’s 29th season opened last March.

Both Fil-foreign cagers have since been undergoing tests before the each game, aside from getting counselling. Harp stressed that while he drinks a lot and fools around with women, he had never touched drugs and added he’s willing to be tested everyday to prove his claim. After being informed of the positive result of his drug test by the PBA, Harp took an independent test with the New World Laboratory in Quezon City, which produced negative result. The power-playing Red Bull slotman said that he has been taking medication even a week before the Thunder were subjected to the mandatory drug test. It was also Limpot’s explanation for his failure to pass the test. Harp noted he is filing a formal appeal to the commissioner, hoping that his case would be reconsidered.

Just recently, Talk N Text’s ace player Gonzales, one of the players who failed a random drug test conducted by the PBA last May, has filed a case with the Regional Trial Court of Angeles City in his bid to overturn the pro league decision suspending him for six months. At the same time, Gonzales, in the suit filed by his lawyer, Efren Hipolito, asked the court to issue a ruling allowing him to play while his case is being heard. He also wants the PBA to pay him damages worth 750,000 pesos. Gonzales, a 6-foot-3 former national cager who was enjoying his finest season in the PBA, was subjected to a random drug test recently and results released showed he failed it to become the third player to be suspended indefinitely by the PBA. He was also ordered to undergo a six-month rehabilitation. A star out of San Beda College, Gonzales was found positive for methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu. Gonzales and his legal counsel contend that the league’s mandatory drug tests go against the constitutional rights of players against self-incrimination. It marked the first time in the 29-year history of Asia’s first professional basketball league that a player had hauled the PBA to court in a move commissioners before Eala have frowned at in the past.

Obviously, the doping problem has alarmed the basketball sports industry still struggling from waning game revenues amid economic difficulties and the emergence of new and rival forms of entertainment. The professional league, established 28 years ago, has about 200 players and 10 teams funded by top Philippine corporations. The increasing number of positive cases has prompted officials to consider requiring all players to undergo a one-time mandatory drug test and employing a more accurate but expensive hair follicle test, Eala said. Outside of basketball, the Philippines has tried to deal with a serious illegal drugs problem by enforcing stricter laws and making drug trafficking a capital offense. Officials estimate the value of the illegal drug trade in the Philippines at 81.6 billion pesos (US$1.5 billion) a year. *

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