Ildefonso escapes suspension, fined P5,000

San Miguel slotman Danny Ildefonso will be able to play in Game 4 of their best-of-seven semifinals series against Red Bull on Wednesday despite incurring two technical fouls in last Sunday's game. According to the league official incident report, Ildefonso was called for a technical foul "due to taunting at the 2:27 minutes of the second quarter and the second again for taunting at the 8:44 mark of the fourth quarter." And because of two technical fouls, Ildefonso was ejected from the game, which may mean outright suspension in his next game. But according to the same league report, "the suspension shall not be automatic and is subject to review if one or two of the technicals assessed was a flagrant infraction." "An evaluation by the Technical Group taking into account the testimonies of the game officials and a review of the game tape together with all pertinent information has brought us to the conclusion that your twin infraction on that fateful night of January 28, 2007, and in both instances, one with Mick Pennisi and the second with Enrico Villanueva was properly assessed as " taunting"." "Taunting is a minor offense as stated under Rule 8, Section VII of the PBA Rule Book." "It is our studied opinion therefore, that based on the memo of November 18, 2006, regarding players ejected for two technicals being suspended for their next game if one or two of those technicals is a flagrant misconduct may not apply in this particular case considering that the "taunting" is a minor infraction and not a flagrant misconduct infraction." But Ildefonso was still meted a fine of P5,000. - GMANews.TV