Equestrian denies part in POC boycott

A top official of the Philippine Equestrian Federation clarified yesterday that her group was not part of the reported boycott of the Philippine Olympic Committee’s general assembly Wednesday in Makati.

"I confirmed my attendance the day before but I failed to make it because I had to attend to an unexpected happening which our office had to look into," said Carissa Coscolluela, PEF secretary general who works in the office of Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon.

Eighteen of the 34 National Sports Associations (NSAs) were represented during POC assembly, enough to form a quorum.

The group which boycotted the meeting was led by athletics president Go Teng Kok along with his new-found allies Buddy Andrada of tennis and Robert Aventajado of taekwondo.

Filomeno Codiñera, the softball president, also failed to attend the meeting because he was out of town but said his absence did not mean he is with the group seeking the ouster of POC president Celso Dayrit, who defeated Go in last year’s POC elections, 22-11.

"You can quote me," Coscolluela told POC media officer Gus Villanueva yesterday. "We (equestrian) have no intention to boycott the general assembly."

"I became too busy (in the office) because of the reported ambush of two tourists who were climbing Mt. Pinatubo," explained Coscolluela. "I did not have time anymore to go to Makati for the meeting."

Go claimed that Dayrit is fast losing the trust and confidence of the POC members but has refused to call for a vote of confidence since it would take 27 of the 35 actual votes to oust the president.

The POC general assembly approved during the meeting the guidelines for the country’s participation in the Busan Asian Games this September.

Triathlon president Tom Carrasco, the RP delegation chef de mission to the quadrennial meet, co-chairs the POC-PSC Task Force.