Silverio quits as coach, team manager (Dec. 11, 1979)

Dante Silverio resigned as Toyota’s coach and team manager hours before Game 2 of the 1979 PBA third conference championship series amid pressure to bring back Ramon Fernandez, Abe King and Estoy Estrada from suspension.

Silverio quits as coach, team manager

Bulletin Today

Published Wednesday Dec. 12, 1979

Dante Silverio, one of the country’s finest rally drivers who has risen to become a noted basketball coach, has resigned his post as head coach and manager of the Toyota basketball team.

Silverio, 40, made the announcement yesterday shortly after team owner Ricardo Silverio, Sr. overruled Dante’s decision to mothball three key players for the rest of the best-of-five series with arch rival Walk Tall (Crispa) for the third conference title.

SIlverio said the three players — Ramon Fernandez, Abe King and Ernesto Estrada — were meted team disciplinary action because “they did not play their best on several occasions.”

In a press statement, Silverio said he had been under pressure from several quarters to have the three players play again in the series.

Silverio, who piloted Toyota to five PBA conference championships and one international invitational title, said the reason he suspended the three was similar to that surrounding the banishment of Danilo Florencio, who, he said, did not “give his best in some games.”

“I must say once again that my action against the three (Fernandez, King and Estrada) was based on my belief that they did not play their best on several occasions,” Silverio said.

“So rather than worry about their possible action on the court, I deemed it better to keep them out of the team. I felt that by so doing, I helped preserve the purity and honor of the sport, which, I think, are more important than just winning.”

Silverio said the three were allowed to play by management because it believes that the Toyota club should not be left alone to carry the fight which other teams in the PBA should be waging collectively.

Silverio, however, did not say what fight the other teams should wage colectively against.

In the past, there have been widespread talk about game-fixing and point-shaving in the country’s premier basketball league. Though it is almost agreed that it exists, there has reportedly been no air-tight proof to pin down anyone.