Editor’s note: Karlitos Brian Decena, a 3rd year journalism student at UP Diliman, was required to write a profile story for his investigative journalism class. An avid basketball fan, he chose as his subject controversial PBA coach Yeng Guiao, who also serves as vice-governor in Pampanga. Decena traveled to the province and examined public documents for his research. He got a grade of 1.0 for this project.

Clad in a red polo shirt and black slacks, Pampanga Vice Governor and Red Bull Barako coach Joseller “Yeng” Guiao watched Dondon Hontiveros hit a triple, giving San Miguel the lead with four minutes left in the second quarter.

After the shot, the bald-headed Guiao, known for haranguing players on court, did something a coach ordinarily would not do.

As Hontiveros, who was right in front of Guiao, ran to the other side of the court, the Barako coach shoveled his left elbow to the face of the 6’2” player, who took 13 seconds to recover and get up from the floor.

Guiao was not yet done. He approached and traded barbs with San Miguel assistant coach Pido Jarencio at half court with referees preventing them from engaging in a fight.

Officials decided to eject Guiao from the game, but his team still won, 104-100.



Ben Espelimbergo, a basketball fan who watched the Philippine Basketball Association game live on TV four years ago, said in disgust: “He should not do things like that.” Guiao, he said, should lead a good example as his actions are seen publicly.

However, Guiao’s constituents in Pampanga, where he serves as vice-governor of the province, think otherwise.

“His coaching (job) is different (from being a public official),” said 44-year-old Analisa Manabat after getting a white slip from Guiao’s office granting her P500 for hospital expenses of her ailing relative.

“He is helpful, he is not negligent (of his duties),” said pedicab driver Robert Perez who from time to time goes to Guiao’s office to seek financial help.

Manabat and Perez are only two of the poor Pampanga citizens who flock to Guiao’s office on the second floor of the white Pampanga capitol every day to ask money for a variety of reasons, usually for hospital bills. They do not go home disappointed as Guiao’s staff gives P500 to them, regardless of the amount they need.

“He (Guiao) inherited his character from his father,” said Perez, referring to Guiao’s late father, Bren, who served as Pampanga governor from 1986 to 1995.

Politics runs in the blood of Guiao, whose uncle, Pastor, also served as the mayor of the Magalang town in 2004. Guiao started his political career at an early age serving as chairman of Kabataang Barangay (KB), predecessor of the now Sangguniang Kabataan, in his teenage years. He eventually became the president of the provincial KB.

Since then, the 51-year-old Guiao has held high positions in the provincial government. He was elected provincial board member in 2001 before becoming vice governor in 2004 and reelected in 2007 and 2010.

As vice governor, Guiao has always voiced out his disagreements with what he considers as questionable acts of his governors - Mark Lapid and Eddie Panlilio - in the past, especially those concerning the multimillion-peso quarry industry in Pampanga.

In 2007, Guiao charged then-governor Lapid, son of another former governor and now senator Lito Lapid, malversation of funds before the Ombudsman that led to the millions of losses in quarry revenues. Both Lapids were involved in the controversy.

The younger Lapid lost his reelection bid that year against priest-turned-governor Panlilio, with whom Guiao also feuded during his term.

Guiao opposed the P45 million proposed budget in 2008 by the Panlilio administration for quarrying operations as he wanted the fund minimized and allocated for other expenses such as hospitals and schools. He also turned down Panlilio’s offer as an adviser on quarrying operations.

In 2009, Guiao also questioned Panlilio’s filing of plunder raps against the Lapids for their alleged involvement in the loss of quarry funds, saying the priest’s action was politically motivated. At the time, Panlilio was being urged by various groups to run for president in the 2010 elections. Like the younger Lapid, Panlilio ended up losing to Guiao’s ally, Lilia “Baby” Pineda in the gubernatorial race that year.

Despite his ties to Pineda, Guiao assures that he would still be guarding against any anomalies in the Pineda administration, his executive assistant Arthur Punzalan said.



“His independence is still there,” said Punzalan, who has been serving under Guiao since 2001.

Despite being in the world of politics, Guiao, an industrial engineering graduate from University of the Philippines Diliman, still pursued the sport he loves – basketball. He was a member of the UP Maroons senior basketball team in the 1980s and became a sensation in college intramurals.

Although Guiao did not make it to the PBA as a player, his coaching skills caught the attention of the RFM franchise, which gave him a break coaching its amateur basketball team. Guiao debuted in the PBA when Diet Sarsi moved up to the pros in 1990.

“Guiao didn’t create an impact as a coach at first because his team was an expansion team made up of several discards from other teams,” said Jay P. Mercado, resident basketball historian of the interactive sports website MYPBA.com.

After he clinched three titles with RFM, Guiao finally earned the respect of league followers. “He developed a championship team in just two years,” Mercado said.

Guiao’s players adored him so much that in 1994, they all shaved their heads to express their unity with him.

He then left coaching and became the commissioner of the Philippine Basketball League from 1997 to 1999. At the same time, he dabbled in sports commentary, covering PBA games and boxing matches for Vintage Sports.

Despite the adoration of his constituents and his effort to brand himself as a “good governance advocate” in the world of politics, it was Guiao’s hot-tempered nature that defined him when he returned to the coaching scene with Red Bull in 2000. He turned off many PBA fans because of his abrasive coaching style which, according to Mercado, goes against the present style of coaching in the pro league.

“He was a throwback to the 1970s style, which was physical, rugged and bordered on being dirty,” said Mercado.

Guiao’s teams play with a style so physical that in 2009, a fight broke out between his player and a fan when his Burger King squad faced the Smart Gilas national team. Guiao was a former president of the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines, and had been a vocal critic of the national basketball federation’s hiring of a foreigner, Rajko Toroman, to coach the team.

Mercado believes that the game, which was marked by four flagrant fouls, was taken by Guiao as an opportunity to avenge a previous loss to Smart Gilas. In the offseason, Guiao’s PBA-backed national team suffered a 29-point loss in a charity exhibition match against Toroman’s squad.

The PBA audience is witness to how Guiao publicly curses players and league officials on the court. Mercado remembers a game where the coach yelled, “Tang ina, benta ka na naman!” (“Son of a bitch, you sold the game again!”) at a player, which everyone in the arena heard.

Aside from in-game profanity, Guiao brings his tough guy act to the dugout. In 2002, he confronted 6’9” PBA player Marlou Aquino and gave him a dirty finger in full view of spectators in the corridor of the Big Dome after a game.

There were even rumors that years ago, Guiao waved a pistol at his players during practice to motivate them.

His temperamental ways has led to in-game brawls, like the 2007 elbowing incident on Hontiveros, which the PBA does not ignore as the league penalizes him through fines and game suspensions. Since 2001, Guiao has amassed a total of P303,600 from fines due to his outbursts, a huge sum considering he acquired it for only six games and the league does not impose penalties too often. His biggest fine in a game totaled P100,000 in 2006 when he ordered a walkout during a game, also against San Miguel.

Guiao seems to hardly be concerned about the huge fines meted out to him. Then again, he earns millions of pesos, and is a millionaire many times over. His statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) in 2008 showed that he is worth P44.7. His annual salary of P360,000 as a public official and P3.6 million as a coach afforded him a house and lot in Cainta, Rizal worth P10 million, a condo unit in Quezon City worth P5 million and four vehicles worth P6.7 million.

Aside from his two jobs, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) records show that Guiao has been either a board member or an incorporator in 12 different companies since 1990. Eleven of these companies, however, were not declared in his previous SALNs.

In 2008, Guiao began serving as treasurer for Radian Exploration and Mining Corporation, wherein he has 750,000 shares. His P20 million from equity in partnerships almost doubled his net
worth in 2008 from only P20.6 million in 2006 and 2007, a year when his net worth was actually P18.8 million, which was curiously almost P2 million less than what he declared.

There were other inconsistencies in Guiao’s SALN, including the mysterious nosedive of his investments from P10 million in 2006 to P25,000 in 2007 despite having stocks in Chico River Consultancy and Management Corp.

These inconsistencies, if left unexplained, could be grounds for violating the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials (Republic Act 6713) which imposes penalties to those with improper financial disclosures in their SALNs ranging from fines to suspension or permanent disqualification from the office.

His SALNs from 2002 to 2004 also revealed another sporting passion: race horses, worth P1.5 million which he acquired in 1982. “(Collecting) horses is one of his hobbies,” Punzalan said.

The frequent absence from the capitol of Guiao, father of two with wife Jennifer, due to his coaching commitments, as well as his on-court behavior that people say serve as bad example to the public, are common criticisms that the sportsman-politican faces.



Punzalan, however, defends his boss from these charges. “He may be absent due to his appointments outside Pampanga,” he said while sitting at Guiao’s office, which is decorated with plaques and trophies he received as a coach and as a public official. “Compare it to a student who goes to school every day but does nothing. Let’s just look at his performance and output for the last nine years.”

Punzalan also remains unfazed by questions about Guiao’s coaching behavior. “On the hardcourt, he is a tough guy. But here, you don’t need to show that you’re a barako,” Punzalan said, referring to the Tagalog term for male hogs used to describe real men. “Like in the movies, he quickly changes his role. He has many characters.”

Mercado, meanwhile, commends Guiao for his coaching style that made him a five-time champion. “Yeng Guiao has mastered the art of tiptoeing the thin line between (what is) legal and illegal,” he said.

Still, other basketball fans such as Ben Espelimbergo aren’t as smitten by the coach. For him, Guiao has been unable to live up to the mandate of RA 6173, which requires all public officials at all times to conform to good morals.