A few hours ago, Rey Joble tweeted this interesting little nugget: "After the Japeth Aguilar incident, the PBA is now ready to rock the boat of the SBP"

And rock the boat they did. Tonight, incoming PBA chairman and Burger King team manager Lito Alvarez said he was planning to revisit the PBA's national team commitment:

Just when the Philippine Basketball Association is about to give way to Smart-Gilas in representing the country in major Asian tournaments, controversial rookie Japeth Aguilar suddenly made the league’s new chairman change his mind.

Burger King team manager Lito Alvarez, who succeeded Joaqui Trillo early this month as the PBA’s new chairman, is now soliciting the support of the board to revive the league’s active involvement in major Asian basketball tournaments.

Here's what the SBP by-laws say:

How are national teams formed for elite international competitions?

The Corporation authorizes the representatives from the professional sector to form, prepare and enter the men's Philippine National Team to elite international competitions such as the Olympics, the World Championships, the FIBA Championships and the Asian Games including the qualifying tournaments for such competitions, subject to such applicable rules and regulations and accreditation requirements.

Curiously, the original representatives to the board of trustees from the professional sector were Ely Capacio of San Miguel, Ricky Vargas of Talk N Text/Smart Gilas, then-PBA Commissioner Noli Eala, and Tony Chua of Barako Bull. However, there were elections held last year with current Commissioner Sonny Barrios taking Eala's place as the professional representative on the board. Eala, however, still sits on the board in his capacity as Liga Pilipinas president.