Salud begins job as PBA deputy head

Lawyer Chito Salud said on Thursday that as deputy commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), his main focus is to improve the level of officiating in the pro league.

“That is what I’ll try to do, I’ll try to help improve it,” Salud, 48, told the Bulletin in a telephone interview Thursday.

As for his being groomed as successor to PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios, Salud was coy and evasive.

“Let’s just see what will happen,” he said, without confirming or denying the reports.

Salud’s role is not far from what Sonny Barrios has been doing as concurrent commissioner, confirming what many believe is a preparation for Salud’s takeover of Barrios’ job when the PBA season ends in July.

Salud met with Barrios yesterday and though the discussion was not made public, the two likely discussed the division of work.

Not since Tommy Manotoc was named deputy commissioner in the mid80s has the PBA named a person to that position. Otherwise it has always been a commissioner and an executive director who handled the day-to-day activities of the league.

Salud will begin his assessment of the officiating today when he attends the PBA doubleheader at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Salud, whose father Rudy served as commissioner from 1988-1992, is no stranger to the PBA. In 2007, he served as technical consultant and legal counsel for almost five months when Barrios was Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the PBA after the resignation of Noli Eala.