MANILA, Philippines - Hanggang ngayon ay nananatili pa ring ‘tinik sa dibdib’ ni Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, Jr. si Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
Kahapon, sinabi ni POC spokesman Joey Romasanta na ipapanukala niya sa mga cycling groups nina Tolentino at Mikee Romero ng Harbour Centre na magkaroon ng isang torneo na lalahukan ng mga siklista sa buong bansa.
“What we are proposing to do, and this idea was brought to the attention of president Cojuangco, if we can have the two groups hold a unification tournament,” ani Romasanta. “A true national open where we will invite all the oher cyclists to compete and, hopefully, qualify for the Asian Games via this tournament to be sanctioned by both parties and also with the blessing of the UCI.”
Bagamat kinilala ng UCI, ang international cycling federation, hindi pa rin tinatanggap ni Cojuangco at ng POC si Tolentino bilang legal na pangulo ng Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines (PhilCycling).
At sa halip, mas kinatigan ng tiyuhin ni President-apparent Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III ang pagkakaluklok kay Romero.
Dahil dito, hindi pinayagan ni Tolentino na makalahok ang mga national cyclists sa nakaraang 25th Southeast Asian Games sa Laos noong Disyembre.