MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine Basketball Association has removed three referees from the 12-man pool assigned to work the Philippine Cup playoffs for various reasons involving different games.
Commissioner Chito Salud issued this clarification on Tuesday to correct a Philippine Daily Inquirer report that the three referees who worked Sunday’s game between Derby Ace and Talk ‘N Text were suspended for calls that affected the outcome of the game.
According to Salud, Referees Dennis Barbacena, Ronald Mauricio and Ariel Bermeo are no longer part of the officiating pool for committing “serious lapses in judgment” in different games they handled during the playoffs.
Only Bermeo worked Game 4.
“Let’s just get the facts straight because it’s grossly unfair to the referees (concerned), the teams and the fans,” Salud said over the phone, stressing that the latest move to take officials out of the pool would not be the last.
The Inquirer report, which quoted a PBA insider, said that Peter Balao, Armando Guevarra and Bermeo were suspended after Salud reviewed the tapes of Game 4.
Salud said that Mauricio, Barbacena and Bermeo “were not found guilty of making game-altering calls, but instead were evaluated for sub-par performance in terms of knowledge of the rules and lack of judicious discretion.”
