PBA saddened by Amores' attempted murder case

LUMBAN, Laguna – The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) expressed sadness about the latest debacle surrounding NorthPort guard John Amores.

In a short statement on Thursday before the quarterfinal games at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila, commissioner Willie Marcial said the incident in which Amores fired gunshots at Lee Cacalda along the Manila East Road here was unfortunate, but the executive added that they will let the police do their duty first before making their action.

"This is a matter subject to investigation by the police, and we cannot comment on it. But we are saddened by such an unfortunate incident," Marcial said.

Reacting to Marcial's statement, police major Bob Ordiz, the chief of the municipal police station here, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that they would base their final resolution regarding Amores' case on all the information they could get.

"Magba-base lang tayo doon sa ebidensya na nakuha namin, CCTV [footage], and yung statements ng victim and ng (We will only base our findings on the evidences we acquired, the CCTV footage, and the statements of the victim and the) witness," Ordiz said.

Word has reached media outlets covering the latest on Amores' debacle that he and Cacalda confronted each other over a foul call during a pick-up game where a P4,000 bet was on the line.

Things escalated quickly, eventually leading to the gunning incident.

Amores and his younger brother turned themselves in at around 1 a.m. Thursday due to threats they were getting from Cacalda's camp.

Over the day, the Amores brothers went to various places in the nearby town of Sta. Cruz, first at the Laguna Regional Trial Court for the preliminary inquest and later at the Laguna PNP headquarters for a paraffin test.

Ordiz told PNA that the soonest time they could get the results of the said proceedings is on Friday morning.

The Amores brothers are facing charges of attempted murder, which if found guilty could mean six to 12 years of imprisonment.

Ordiz said they are waiting for the bail bond that would be slapped on the Amoreses, but the police chief said that the bail would likely be somewhere between P24,000 and P200,000. (PNA)