Manila Polo Club feud still unresolved

The ongoing feud between the directors and members of the Manila Polo Club is far from over as both camps continue to trade barbs.

The incumbent board of the Manila Polo Club and the group dubbed as the "Good Governance Team" failed to reach a common ground during the debate held by the two parties Thursday night. The objective of the debate was to enlighten the club membership on the finances and future of the Manila Polo Club.

The present board is led by Policarpio Ascalon, president; Reynaldo Concepcion, first vice-president; Harry Tan, second vice-president and treasurer; Farrid Nassr, assistant treasurer; Carlos Rufino, director; Washington Lou, director; Vincent Lim and Delfin Enriquez Jr.

The Good Governance team, on the other hand, includes former Foreign Secretary Robert Romulo, former Central Bank Governor Jose Cuisia, former Philippine Ambassador Jesus P. Tambunting, former Philippine Ambassador Isabel Caro-Wilson and former Capital Markets advisor Roman Azanza Jr. They are eyeing control of the exclusive and prestigious Manila Polo Club in the forthcoming board elections on Aug. 26.

The current board accused the Romulo team of engaging in willful and blatant deception to win in the coming elections and serve their own personal agenda.

"They are aiming to reintroduce CCA [Club Corp. of Asia] to manage the Manila Polo Club," Concepcion said.

Concepcion said CCA would charge a 203- percent mark-up over food costs versus the 112 percent margin by Makati Skyline, which was chosen to outsource Manila Polo Club’s food and beverage department.

Cuisia, however, denied this. "We never brought it up," he said, adding that the issue at hand is the alleged lack of transparency and accountability within the board of directors of the social and sports club.

Concepcion said the board rejected the CCA offer because it found some terms, particularly the demand for a 25-percent share of gross operating income and investment requirement on Manila Polo Club.

"While this board is working hard and, through its efforts, has succeeded in cutting cost and restoring the club to fiscal health, the Romulo group resorts to mudslinging in its efforts to gain members’ attention and wrest control of the board," Ascalon said.

"The Romulo-Cuisia group professes to know and care about what is wrong with the club when they are hardly seen at the club much less are involved. Suddenly with elections coming, they have become experts on the club’s problems and now want to get into the board and run its affairs. We wonder how much time they will really devote to the club should they be elected," Ascalon said.

The Romulo team, on the other hand, said it is devoting time and attention to the affairs of the Manila Polo Club out of deep concern about the way the club has been led and managed over the past few years.

It accused the current board of co-mingling the funds of the club when it reclassified the associate membership fund of P155 million from restricted to unrestricted and used the same in the general operations of the club. Through this dubious device, about P102 million of the associate members fund has been spent.

The Good Governance team also claimed that the present board has been exceeding capital expenditure limits over the past three fiscal years. "The board has circumvented the rule through the questionable devise of designating projects as "special projects."

The present board, however, argued that the associate membership fees, amounting to P155 million was collected over four years and was not totally spent. "These fees are part of the general fund, which amounted to P185 million at the start of this fiscal year on July 1, 2001. The cash balance as of May 31, 2002 is P110 million, thus showing a net cash reduction of P75 million," Concepcion said.

The Romulo team also denounced the club’s computerization project which cost over P13 million. "The computerization project was characterized by flaws in the bidding process, serious defects in documentation and contract approval and misappreciation of the real needs of the club," Azanza said.

"It was after reviewing the plight of the club that many club members collectively reached the conclusion that unless there is a change in club leadership and management, the Manila Polo Club’s slid to obscurity and mediocrity will continue," the Romulo team said.

"This is why we, in the Good Governance team, are standing for election in the coming board elections, Romulo said.

The management stressed that all projects have been duly approved by members and that the club never exceeded its capital expenditures limit.