BACOLOD City – Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts will not easily let go of Heinz Gabriel “Kobe” Demisana despite the Negrense center already verbally committed to the University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) Junior Maroons.
JGM Dreams Foundation, Inc. president and Thunderbolts team manager Jose Montalbo said he felt disrespected by Demisana’s decision without informing him.
“There are issues needed to be resolved first,” Montalbo said. “It is all about values, respect and honesty.”
“The JGM has been supporting Kobe (Demisana) since he was brought to Bacolod Tay Tung. We even enrolled him to the Catholic Ming Yuan College, Inc. in Murcia, Negros Occidental just to (give him) Chinese education,” he added.
Montalbo condemned the Junior Maroons for directly communicating with Demisana’s family instead of going to the usual recruiting process of talking with the coaches or to the team manager of the player.
“They need to respect us. It’s not because we are from the province, they will treat us this way,” he said. “They have to understand that we also spend for the student-athletes’ education.”
In a separate statement last night, Demisana’s mother Charlene said that they have told the Junior Maroons management to directly communicate with Montalbo regarding the Negrense center.
“Every time there are talks and offers for Kobe, I always tell them that they should talk first to Mr. Montalbo,” Charlene stressed.
Panay News learned from a source that aside from UPIS, Manila-based schools De La Salle University-Zobel, Far Eastern University and Adamson University placed Demisana under their radars./PN
