CHITO SALUD resigned as president and CEO of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) on grounds bordering on the reduction of his compensation package to the transfer of the league’s marketing department—which is supposed to be under his jurisdiction—to the Office of the Commissioner.
News of Salud’s resignation broke on Tuesday and the former league commissioner made the confirmation by issuing a statement later in the day.
“I have formally and respectfully signified my intention to step down as president/CEO of the PBA effective at the end of December 2015,” Salud, son of the late Rudy Salud, also a former commissioner, said in his statement.
“The organizational structure of the PBA, as we have envisaged, is already in place. The handover to the new commissioner has been smoothly executed. And the board under Chairman [Robert] Non’s leadership continues to be as it is—a source of strength, stability and continuity as the PBA charts its way forward,” he added.
“It is for these reasons that I believe the time is right for me to move on, confident as I am that I have already made my modest contributions to the critical transition into this current PBA season.”
Speculations were rife that Salud quit because “he felt useless” in his new post. As president and CEO, Salud deals with the non-basketball aspects of the league, such as marketing, sales, promotions, among others.
But BusinessMirror learned there was something more to Salud’s resignation.
Salud’s dissatisfaction is believed to have reached boiling point after he learned that his compensation package would be reduced without being formally informed about the changes.
He also questioned the transfer of the marketing department to new Commissioner Andres “Chito” Narvasa III, and was opposed to the appointment of a deputy commissioner—which was given to former operations head Ricky Santos—without the approval of the Board of Governors.
A special board meeting was called on October 19 at the PBA offices in Libis, Quezon City, to address Salud’s concerns. Ten governors, BusinessMirror found out, attended the meeting.
Salud asked the board “if there were trust issues involved, to which the board denied there wasn’t any.”
By meeting’s end, the board upheld the current structure, where the CEO reports to the board and runs the business, as well as his current package. The structure of running the league, however, needed to be discussed between Salud and Narvasa before any board resolution or amendments to the PBA’s constitution are made.
On Salud’s compensation package, the board tackled the issue, but only “informally.”
Salud warmed his seat as president and CEO for only two months. He served as commissioner for five years. He intended to resign last February, but was persuaded to stay by then-league Chairman Patrick Gregorio of Talk ‘N Text.
“We’re also surprised to see that [resignation] letter,” Non, Ginebra San Miguel’s representative to the PBA board, said in an online report.
(With Joel Orellana)