LPU‘s Ato Barba attempting to help his unconscious teammate JM Bravo wake up after the latter was knocked-out after a collision with the AU Chiefs’ Renzo Abiera, October 19, 2024, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre. Photo from NCAA Philippines/Angela Davocol 

MANILA — The NCAA on Sunday clarified the response of concerned parties after Lyceum of the Philippines guard JM Bravo passed out during their game against the Arellano University Chiefs on Saturday.

The 6-foot-2 Bravo was knocked unconscious following a collision with Arellano's Renzo Abiera with only eight seconds left in the game. He was put in a stretcher and rushed to the Cardinal Santos Medical Center.

But before Bravo was attended to by the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel in the venue, his teammate Ato Barba was seen forcefully shaking his head, in the hopes of helping Bravo regain consciousness.

Barba received some negative backlash online for his actions, but none other than Bravo came to the defense of his fellow Pirate.

"Please stop spreading bad vibes, bad and nonsense comments please!" said Bravo, who was already originally ruled out of LPU's Season 100 campaign due to a separate spine injury before he returned to the lineup just in time for their second-round assignments, in a social media post.

"John Barba and I are very close, and I treat him as a brother also. I understand what he did, and I appreciate everyone's concern, especially my team, so please stop making bad comments. I'm already okay and cleared."

READ: Lyceum's Bravo to be discharged from hospital after passing out in game

On Sunday, NCAA management committee chairman Hercules Callanta explained how it got to a point that Barba was the first one to attend to the erstwhile knocked-out Bravo.  

He first explained the usual procedure that the league and its referees follow when a player goes down, whether due to injury or not. 

"Dapat yun, first and foremost, ang proper procedure is the referee should make sure that the individual who fell is either injured or not," Callanta told ABS-CBN News on Sunday. 

"The referee is supposed to ask the player if he can continue or not. Because when and if the first aiders or the medical people come and aid him, then he will have to be replaced. So the referees will be the first ones to determine that."

Callanta then went on to explain why there was a delay in the EMS' response.

"Unfortunately, yesterday, the referees went somewhere else. That's the reason why the medic, or the EMS, waited for them. But since there were no referees, it took a bit of time. Barba was there immediately, panicking about his teammate. Nakita niya na there was something wrong," said Callanta.

"I don't know where the referees were going, but essentially they were not there."

LPU’s JM Bravo on the floor after colliding with AU‘s Renzo Abiera. YouTube screen capture from NCAA Philippines/GMA Synergy.

Moving forward, while Callanta explained that they already talked to the concerned parties on how they will deal with such incidents, he pointed out that the game officials would still be the ones to make the call on whether or not, or when the EMS should attend to concerned players. 

"It was already clarified, that if that incident happens again, the referees, the bouncers, the EMS, already know the relative timing, and their duties and responsibilities," he shared.

"If you notice, we put barriers in place already. Because unfortunately, whenever there are well-attended games, even the exits are clogged with people. So that prevents everyone from accessing exits and passageways to attend to the people who are injured. Those are already in place, but they need to be reinforced better."

"If ever that happens again, I'm sure that there would be changes. We already spelled out everything this morning before [Sunday’s] games started. I met with the different groups that are relevant in those settings, and they were all apprised of their duties, responsibilities, and placements, as well as integrating the emergency plan of the FilOil EcoOil Centre. The stadium’s plan, evacuation or emergency plan, also needs to be integrated into the plan of the NCAA with regards to situations like this."

"Dapat meron talaga," Callanta answered when asked whether a referee’s discretion is still needed in future situations. 

"Pero yung referees, they are not supposed to leave that place. He’s the first on-site. It has something to do with the technical aspect eh, so he needs to ascertain whether the person is injured or not. If the player is unresponsive, definitely, they need to call the EMS."

"The EMS were also told to be on their toes, and to always follow the game so that if someone falls, they are ready when the referees wave them in," he added.

ABS-CBN News also reached out to the EMS present at the venue, but they respectfully declined to comment on the incident. 

Meanwhile, the NCAA management committee explained that a medical certificate will be needed by Bravo for him to be cleared to play again for the Pirates.

Earlier today, Lyceum shared an update on the condition of Bravo and said that their player is already cleared for on-court return.