Ex-PBA commissioner Jun Bernardino dies

Former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Emilio "Jun" Bernardino passed away shortly after midnight Friday, dzRH radio reported Saturday morning. The report did not cite the cause of death, but said Bernardino died shortly after 1 a.m., and that his remains were to be brought to the Loyola Memorial Chapel in Guadalupe, Makati City. A member of the Ateneo high school and University of the Philippine varsity teams, he graduated with a degree in sports management at the UP. His career at the PBA started in the early 1980s with the coverage team of Vintage Sports. He eventually became the executive director of the league. Bernardino became the fifth commissioner of the PBA in 1994, replacing Rey Marquez. It was during his watch that the "Fil-Sham" controversy broke out. The rise of the rival Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) in 1998 prompted him to allow the direct entry of Filipino-foreigner players for each PBA team in the 1999 season. But while the policy allowed the entry of popular Fil-Am players, it also led to controversies over alleged fake Filipino-American players. It was also during Bernardino's watch that two expansion franchises entered the PBA in 2000, bringing the number of teams from eight to 10. Health problems in 2001 forced Bernardino to temporarily step aside, and eventually to retire as commissioner after the end of the 2002 season. In 2004, he was part of a group that formed Sports Vision Management. In 2006, he was the commissioner of the 82nd National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) season, the first time in four years he was commissioner of a basketball tournament.-GMANews.TV