PACA leadership row settled today?

Joaqui Preysler, the embattled president of the Philippine Amateur Cycling Association, has called for a meeting among PACA officials today for the ratification of the minutes of last January’s meeting where he claims to have been elected as the rightful successor of the late Francisco Almeda.

The meeting is set at noon at the Orchid Gardens suite in Malate with Preysler confident of finally settling the leadership dispute within the cycling group. Once ratified, the minutes of the Jan. 30 meeting would prove that Preysler is the PACA’s duly-elected president.

"The minutes of the meeting, unless ratified, is just a piece of paper. So tomorrow, I expect them to be ratified by the rest of the PACA officials to once and for all prove that I am no impostor. I expect a ratification of those minutes and then, if they want a new election, then let’s hold one," Preysler said.

Emmanuel Bayot, the PACA vice president for Visayas, was invited to today’s meeting along with Ponciano Regalado whom Bayot swore in as the new PACA officer-in-charge just recently. Preysler, however, has not received any confirmation whether Bayot or Regalado would show up.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit the other day said that he still considers Preysler, who supported Go Teng Kok in the recent POC elections, as the PACA president. "All he has to do is to disprove the allegations that no elections took place last Jan. 30," said Dayrit.

The ratifications of the minutes, Preysler said, will be enough to satisfy Dayrit that he is the rightful PACA president. "That’s why the minutes, once ratified, will be presented to Dayrit. I hope it will be enough to settle the issue and so I can go on with my functions as PACA president," said Preysler. — Abac Cordero

Bayot’s group, which supported Dayrit in the POC elections, claims that Preysler has not done anything good for the PACA since taking over the post following the death of Almeda two years ago. They also claimed that Preysler’s poor leadership of the association has put a bad impression to our neighboring countries.