Barrios, Chua out to draw up road map

By Francis Ochoa
Inquirer
Last updated 10:48pm (Mla time) 10/12/2007

MANILA, Philippines--BEFORE his short-term vocation comes to an end, Philippine Basketball Association officer-in-charge Renauld "Sonny" Barrios hopes to put in place something that will last a little bit longer.

Barrios and league chairman Tony Chua of Red Bull are cooking up a road map of sorts that will point a league that has encountered yet another crossroad in a general direction that it will take in the next few years.

"We really have to identify some sort of a goal that we all can look forward to, even at least for the next three years," Barrios said Friday. "The chair is a very hardworking person and I'm sure we can come up with at least a vision for the board to discuss and deliberate on before the Philippine Cup is over."

Barrios's stint as OIC ends when the Philippine Cup, which opens Sunday, closes.

The road map, Barrios hopes, will steer the league to a fixed direction so that it won't face an identity crisis. The need arose after the league reformatted its rules to fit the international style of play and at the heels of a planned conversion into a corporation.

"Mainly, we just want to revisit a few of the principles the PBA is based on," Barrios explained. "We want to see if there are new principles that need to be put in place like perhaps standing in the forefront of international competitions and what are the things needed to be done if these principles are adopted."

Barrios said that he and Chua will also try to hold a dialogue with the board to discuss the possibility of the league going corporate and where the new commissioner will fit into the scheme of things.

"My job is not just to provide a smooth transition from former commissioner [Noli] Eala to his replacement but also to make sure that when his replacement arrives, he will no longer have problems adjusting because his job description will be well-defined," he explained.

Barrios is also hoping to expand the PBA's outreach program and plans to strike a partnership with the Philippine Daily Inquirer's read-along program. The plan came about when he heard of the success of San Miguel guard Olsen Racela's stint as a reader.

"We're really very enthusiastic about that project because we feel that if there's one outreach program that the league can really raise awareness for, it's a literacy campaign," Barrios said.

Asked about any short-term plans, Barrios replied: "A shorter opening-day speech."

The response was a jab at his lengthy speech during the Rookie Draft last August.