Basketball
Salva’s father hits UAAP for sanction over altercation with FEU’s Magtulis
InterAKTV/Roy Afable
Amando Salva, the father of Ateneo forward Nico Salva, is protesting the reported sanction against him by the UAAP over an altercation involving him and FEU assistant coach Ronald Magtulis.
According to an InterAKTV source in the UAAP Board of Trustees, the elder Salva will no longer be allowed to sit in the patron section of venues and will instead be restricted in the lower box. Magtulis was slapped a one-game ban over the incident.
In a strongly-worded letter to UAAP president Nilo Ocampo, Salva decried getting sanctioned without a chance to explain the incident. (Click here to see full letter.)
“I cannot believe that the Board has decided on something without hearing my side first. Instead, you have denied me due process and subjected me to acute embarrassment arising from the various media stories,” wrote Salva.
“You have maligned my character by portraying me as someone with no self-control, damaged my name and reputation in my field of work, with business associates, friends and relatives.”
Salva also took the opportunity to narrate the incident with Magtulis from his point of view in the letter. According to Salva’s account, Magtulis had reportedly challenged his son to a fistfight earlier that afternoon.
“As I was heading back to my seat, I saw Magtulis heading in my direction so I talked to him saying, ‘Pare, ano ba problema mo kay Nico? Bakit mo siya hinahamon ng suntukan? Ang tanda-tanda mo na eh papatulan mo pa ang bata,’ and Magtulis responded, ‘Ikaw ang matanda! Gusto mo tayo na lang eh. Halika sa labas.’”
Salva admitted that the incident devolved into a shouting match with insults being hurled, but that cooler heads prevailed and there was no physical altercation.
“I believe any normal parent would react the same way I did,” added Salva. “My son was threatened, and I wanted to protect him.”
He called on the UAAP board to rectify its “error in judgment” and asked to be allowed to watch Ateneo games from the patron section, “where I have watched and supported him all throughout his collegiate career.”
