Point Shaving & Fixes ·
The VisMin Game Stopped at Halftime Under Fixing Suspicion
Siquijor’s expulsion and penalties for Lapu-Lapu members followed an unfinished April 2021 game. A later licensing investigation punished some participants and cleared others.
On April 14, 2021, a game between the Siquijor Mystics and the ARQ Builders–Lapu-Lapu Heroes became a succession of missed chances: botched fastbreaks, air-balled free throws and unusual turnovers. By halftime, Lapu-Lapu led 27–13. The Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup stopped the game there. The play had raised suspicions of game-fixing; the response would reach beyond the unfinished afternoon.
The newly launched regional league was playing in a bubble in Alcantara, Cebu. At one point, Lapu-Lapu’s Rendell Senining attempted a free throw with his left hand, then the next with his right. Both missed badly. A Siquijor player stole the ball and reached an open layup, missed, and made no effort to retrieve the rebound for another attempt. Siquijor missed all 10 of its free throws in 20 minutes of play; Lapu-Lapu attempted 19. The Heroes scored just four points in the second quarter.
On April 15, league chief operating officer Rocky Chan announced Siquijor’s expulsion. Its players and coaches could no longer compete in the VisMin Super Cup, even for another team, and its games were forfeited. Chan said the sanctions followed a review by league officials with assistance from the Games and Amusements Board, or GAB. He condemned what he called a “disgraceful act to the sport that we love the most.”
The league also punished members of Lapu-Lapu. Senining received a ₱15,000 fine and a suspension for the rest of the tournament. Five other players were each fined ₱15,000 and suspended for the remainder of the first round. Head coach Francis Auquico was fined ₱30,000, while his assistants received ₱20,000 fines each.
The severity of the announcement did not settle the underlying suspicion. The league offered little detail about its conclusions. SPIN reported at the time that officials did not directly address the game-fixing issue or seek explanations from players about the suspect plays. Chan warned that the league would not tolerate deliberate actions and said similar incidents would bring expulsion and a ₱1 million fine. He apologized to fans, sponsors and the basketball community, calling the incident isolated.
Six months later, GAB concluded its investigation. As reported on October 22, it revoked the professional licenses of nine Mystics players, including Ryan Buenafe, and head coach Joel Palapal for acts and conduct unbecoming a professional player. It also imposed six-month license suspensions on Senining, Reed Juntilla, Jercules Tangkay and Auquico, and three-month suspensions on several other Lapu-Lapu players and assistants.
GAB’s findings did not assign responsibility to everyone swept into the league’s initial punishment. It cleared Lapu-Lapu owner Jason Arquisola, Mytha Canoy and three assistant coaches of involvement. It also found Mystics players Michael Sereno, Vincent Tangcay, Miguel Castellano and Isagani Gooc, along with assistant coach Magenelio Padrigao, not guilty. They had belonged to the team expelled as a whole; the later investigation distinguished them from those whose licenses it revoked.