Six more karatekas resigned from the Philippine Karatedo Federation yesterday, bringing to 21 the total number of disgruntled athletes and officials who quit the organization after denouncing PKF president Pocholo Veguillas' alleged one-man rule and unauthorized use of PKF resources and equipment.
Allan Yap, Gretchen Malalad, Junel Perania, Avelino de Jesus, Ireneo Soriano and Paolo Nicholas Veguillas, veterans of last year's Brunei SEA Games, formally joined fellow national team mainstays, led by national coach David Lay, who left the association and demanded immediate reforms, including election of a new set of officials and top-to-bottom revamp of the PKF.
This developed as the Philippine Olympic Committee fact-finding committee resumes its investigation into the controversy today at the PSC Administration Bldg. although Veguillas reiterated his desire not to attend the probe unless athletics chief Go Teng Kok inhibits himself from the proceedings.
The committee, which composed of former POC chief Jose Sering and Go as co-chairmen, and Ral Rosario, Claudio Altura and Nestor Ilagan, invited Veguillas to the first hearing last week but the latter questioned the authority of the committee and snubbed the meeting. He later branded the charges against him as baseless.
"The resignation of this new batch only shows the karatekas are not happy with the way things are being run in the PKF and I'm glad they've joined us in our fight because we need all the help we can get," Lay said.
Lay also ruled out the possibility of a dialogue with the PKF, a move PKF honorary president and former POC president Cristy Ramos suggested earlier in the week .
"There's no need to talk (to the PKF officials) who have been insensitive to the athletes' needs," said Lay. "We've talked to them in the past but they did nothing to effect change. What we want is reform."
During the previous hearing, the committee was presented with PKF receipts for donations, amounting to over P255,000 for last year's national championships. Karatekas said the PKF could not pay for volunteers' work during the tournament, citing lack of funds.
Karatekas also said they don't receive reimbursements from the PKF or the PSC for expenses incurred for injuries during training, also citing the case of one karateka, who was removed from the national pool when she had a shoulder injury sustained during practice. -