Veguillas denies charges

Philippine Karatedo Federation president Pocholo Veguillas, coming out in the open for the first time, yesterday denied all charges hurled against him in a meeting with the Philippine Sports Commission's fact-finding committee.

"I'm glad that Mr. Veguillas showed up to air his side and we promised him impartiality and fairness in the PSC's own inquiry," said PSC chairman Carlos Tuason.

Tuason said Veguillas gave his side on illegal activities complained about by national team members led by the latter's younger brothers, Joey and Salvador.

Citing Veguillas, Tuason explained that the 300 floor mats released to the PKF for the national team members' use are not in the custody of the Association for the Advancement of Karatedo which Veguillas also heads, but stored somewhere in the Philsports Center and Rizal Memorial Complex.

Veguillas also promised to turn back 18 head gears to the country's sports agency just to show that they are not using it for personal purposes.

Junie Dizon said the PSC committee which he heads will have to evaluate all the documents submitted by both parties and verify the validity of the affidavits submitted to them by the concerned factions before submitting a recommendation to Tuason.

"Mr. Veguillas put on record his statements regarding the case. What we need now is the complaining athletes' sworn statements," said Dizon, who is also PSC deputy executive director.

Tuason added that the PSC group's recommendation will be forwarded to the Office of the Government Corporation Council (OGCC) which will determine what legal action could be taken.

As this developed, Go Teng Kok, one of the members of the five-man Philippine Olympic Committee fact-finding group, urged Veguillas to do the same in their own hearing set Friday at the POC's annex office in Manila.

"His presence in the POC hearing is very important because we need to hear his side of the story. If he will continue to snub our hearing, we'll be forced to submit our recommendation to the POC executive council with or without his statements," said Go, also the chair of the POC membership committee.