Official: Willie Marcial is the New PBA Commissioner

PBA board unanimously promotes Willie Marcial from officer-in-charge to Commissioner.

Ever since the Christian Standhardinger trade was approved by then PBA Commissioner Chito Narvasa, the office of the commissioner became the center of the questions owing to the fact that despite calls for Narvasa to veto the said deal due to the claim by some board members that it destroyed the very reason why the draft was being held on a yearly basis.

Then, speculations with regards to the possibility of a lockout started to spin out because the supposedly annual planning session of the PBA in the United States was cancelled due to the "faction war" that was going on between two groups: one that wanted Narvasa out of the picture and the other one that wanted him to go on as commissioner.

Then, Chito Narvasa finally showed up along with the rest of the board during the official launching event of the league's 43rd season, eliminating the possibility of a lockout.

Then, just hours prior to the opening season, the board held a press conference and announced that Chito Narvasa has submitted his resignation as commissioner but the board elected to let him stay until the end of 2017. The board's announcement consequently promoted longtime PBA Media Bureau Chief Willie Marcial as the league's officer-in-charge to ensure continuity of the league's operations and also to assist in the selection process for a new commissioner.

Earlier this week, Willie Marcial has indicated that he will wait for the board's decision if they will keep him as the permanent commissioner before making any further plans and changes for the benefit of the PBA and its fans.

Well?

Willie Marcial has all the time to plan ahead after the PBA board which held its first board meeting in 2018 yesterday, officially and unanimously name Willie Marcial as the new commissioner. The board believed that given that the PBA is going through a healing process after a difficult situation towards the end of the previous season, it's better for everyone to promote Marcial to the post of commissioner owing to what PBA Chairman Ricky Vargas said that Willie Marcial will be the "healing commissioner".

Conclusion

Willie Marcial has already implemented many changes in his short stint as the OIC of the league which includes allowing more physicality during games. Just imagine the good things we can expect from the PBA in the years to come. After all, Willie Marcial has risen from statistician to floor director and finally, being the chief of the league's Media Bureau. And now, he's the commissioner.

Congratulations, Commissioner Willie Marcial!