NSA leaders pledge unity, nix confidence vote

The expected showdown between Philippine Olympic Committee p resident Celso Dayrit and athletics chief Go Teng Kok didn’t push through after all.

The POC general assembly averted what could have been a division of the house as all members signed a manifesto of unity, thus quashing an earlier move by the Go camp to oust Dayrit through a vote of no confidence.

""We have managed, at least in this meeting, to bring the organization towards unity instead of away from it," said POC chairman Robert Aventajado, who presided over the POC's last general assembly for the year.

All members present, including Go, signed the manifesto circulated by Dayrit.

Dayrit appeared satisfied with the way things turned out yesterday, although he said the signing of the manifesto should be construed more as an acceptance of National Sports Associations to work together rather than as a confirmation of members' confidence on the POC leadership.

"I suppose the manifesto is more of a show of everybody wanting to work together for peace and unity inside the POC," said Dayrit, who a day earlier was asked by his supporters to push for a vote of confidence on his leadership.

Four issues were raised, the most of prominent of which being Go’s motion to remove Freddie Jalasco, former head of the Basketball Association of the Philippines, from the POC executive committee since he is not attached to any NSA.

Citing lack of a verified petition from Go, Aventajado said Jalasco should remain as member of the executive board.

Tempers started to flare up when Jalasco, reacting to Go’s ouster petition, revived an old issue he had raised in the last General Assembly three months ago that Go is linked to a convicted drug dealer.

Aventajado quickly reprimanded Jalasco for getting out of context since the issue at hand was the ouster move.

As this developed, the POC also officially confirmed Quinteliano "Tiny" Literal as president of the BAP. Literal, in turn, signed a document promising to withdraw all cases he filed against the POC.

The POC also succeeded in getting the weightlifting association to agree to the holding of an election in February next year, saving incumbent head Rodones Sicat the embarrassment of losing in a poll to former weightlifting champion Jaime Sebastian.

Sebastian, leader of the Alliance of Athletes and Coaches of the Philippines, claimed to have the numbers after getting elected as the group’s new president last month.

Aventajado also deferred the motion to recall the earlier POC order declaring former karatedo head Pochollo Veguillas as a persona non grata due to lack of time.

It also ordered the cycling's warring leaders Ramon Durano III and Ponciano Regalado Jr., to first resolve among themselves their internal problem before the POC steps in to decide on the issue.