Court orders swim group head's arrest for child abuse

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City regional trial court has issued a warrant for the arrest of a swimming association official who allegedly humiliated a teenager and caused him to be removed from an international swimming competition in Sabah, Malaysia two years ago.

Branch 107 Judge Jose Bautista ordered the arrest of PhilSwimming, Inc. president Mark Joseph after swimmer Paul Jerome Carpio filed charges of violation of Section 10 of Republic Act 7610, the anti-child abuse law.

Carpio – a son of STAR assistant sports editor Gerry Carpio – accused Joseph of issuing derogatory remarks that demeaned his character and humiliated him in front of fellow swimmers in a foreign country during the 43rd Sabah Age Group swimming championship at the Kota Kinabalu Sports Complex on Feb. 5, 2010. He was 17 at the time.

Carpio, who was unaccompanied by his parents during the trip, said he was one of the swimmers of the Aquatic Sports Association of the Philippines (ASAP), which was invited by the Penampang Swimming Association of Sabah to the international swim meet. He said his trip was financed by his parents.

According to court records, Joseph wrote the swim meet’s organizers, referring to ASAP’s swimmers as “rule-breakers and troublemakers” who tried to circumvent the rules of the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (PhilSwimming, Inc.’s previous name) and Federacion Internationale de Natation (FINA).

Joseph wrote that he “cannot warrant that their identifications and ages are truthful as passports with fake dates of birth can easily be acquired in the Philippine, that their counterpart FINA members or any of their members would be the victims of cheating and misrepresentation which he disliked.”

Carpio said that as a result of the letter, “organizers took his passport and questioned its authenticity, causing him untold embarrassment in front of fellow swimmers. While the other swimmers were allowed to participate under the North Borneo team and subjected to extreme scrutiny, he decided not to join, firmly believing that his passport is genuine.”

He said “he could only cry and cry and watched the event in frustration, hence, all his rigorous trainings were put to waste as well as his high hopes relative to his favorite events, all because of the said remarks by respondent.”

The judge found probable cause to issue a warrant for Joseph’s arrest and set bail at P80,000. He also ordered his staff to send copies of the arrest warrant to the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police and the Quezon City Police District.