by Waylon Galvez
San Miguel Beer guard Terrence Romeo is not being penalized by management despite his late game outburst in Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup finals series against Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok last Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
SMB team manager Gee Abanilla said they are not giving any sanction on the controversial guard.
“No… wala namang ganun. No fines on Terrence,” Abanilla said Sunday prior to Game 3 of the PBA Philippine Cup finals series against Magnolia at the Big Dome.
“It’s just at the hit of the moment. Inamin naman nya sa amin na uminit talaga ulo nya… lahat naman tayo napipion e. But he’s the type of person also that after nun, mawawala din naman agad yung init ng ulo,” added Abanilla.
Romeo was ejected from the game after he received back-to-back technical fouls with 6:23 left of the previous game with SMB ahead 96-80.
The first technical foul came after he threw the ball to referee Peter Balao, and despite efforts from teammates and even team governor Robert Non to pacify him, Romeo continued to hurl invectives on the veteran game official.
That led to a second 'T' and eventual ejection.
During that commotion, a visibly irritated Non yelled at Romeo on numerous occasions, and even ordered him to return to the SMB locker room following his ejection from the game.
Abanilla downplayed the incident, saying they were able to get Romeo’s side of the story.
“Wala naman yun. I spoke to him, and ang sabi nga nya din sa media he was so focused with the referee, so hindi niya na-intindihan yung ibang sinasabi sa kanya,” said Abanilla.
The league’s commissioner’s office, meanwhile, has yet to act on Romeo’s actions, including his criticism on Balao, whom he alleged is being personal on him with his calls during Game 2.
PBA chief Willie Marcial did not respond to a query about the league’s sanctions.