Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok guard Jio Jalalon is not on the trading blocks.
That statement came from none other than the team’s governor Rene Pardo.
Pardo also mentioned that the third-year player just signed a fresh three-year contract with Magnolia.
“We have recently extended for another three years a contract with Jio Jalalon kaya hindi namin maintindihan na there are rumors that we have plans to trade him,” Pardo said.
One of the trade rumors was that Jalalon will be shipped to Barangay Ginebra. It came from a cryptic tweet posted by Snow Badua early this month which was easily deciphered by PBA fans.
“The normal practice is you don’t renew a guy. If you offer him for a trade, you let the incoming team do the negotiations. But before our game with Ginebra, he already signed a three-year contract with us,” said Pardo.
Usually, the Magnolia top official doesn’t have the habit of going public each time they gave new contracts but in the case of Jalalon, Mr. Pardo has to say something to shut down the said rumor.
“Siyempre bata. Kinausap ko rin, sinabihan ko. Pero kahit ano sabihin mo, may social media ‘yung bata. Kahit fans namin maraming nagtatanong. I think it’s high time that I mention it already para once and for all. Negotiations are ongoing to all of the players. Hindi ko plano labas. We don’t normally do that. I’m taking all that and telling the truth that we have extended him to another three years,” said Pardo.
Jio Jalalon Highlights