MANILA, Philippines -- The sports arm of ABS-CBN is among the departments affected by the corporation's on-going retrenchment.

ABS-CBN Corp. announced on Wednesday that it will cease the operations of some of its businesses and lay off workers effective August 31, 2020, following the non-renewal of its franchise.

Its sports unit is among those that will cease operations, with Dino Laurena, the head of Integrated Sports, confirming the development on his personal Facebook page.

"The final buzzer," he said. "So ends this journey… I made the painful announcement to our beloved Sports team today."

"I've been on this road before, and I can assure you, it is not something I will swear even on people I don't like. It is heart-wrenchingly painful," he added.

Laurena hailed his team, saying they "have served our audience well as advocates of the best values in sports."

Some of ABS-CBN Sports+Action's on-air talents have expressed their sadness over the retrenchment, including former volleyball star Gretchen Ho and former University of the Philippines basketball player Mikee Reyes.

That's it. ABS-CBN Sports officially signs off. Love you fam @abscbnsports thank you for everything.

Photos from @moki_doki pic.twitter.com/LP8ESDxANf

— Gretchen Ho (@gretchenho) July 16, 2020

Salamat @abscbnsports. You made our dreams come true. You will always be my home.

— Migs Bustos (@migsbustos) July 16, 2020

Jus got the news... You will always be in my heart, @abscbnsports 💔💙💚

— Mikee (@_mikeereyes) July 16, 2020

It remains to be seen how this development will affect leagues that air on ABS-CBN Sports+Action, including the UAAP, NCAA, and the Premier Volleyball League (PVL), among others.

The NCAA and the PVL still have live contracts with ABS-CBN, while the UAAP's contract ended last May 31.

The UAAP has called ABS-CBN Sports its home since 2000, and league officials said in June that they are in negotiations with the network regarding the broadcast partnership.

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website).