Antonio steps up attack on NCFP

While softening his stand on the proposed Eugene Torre-Mark Paragua duel, GM Joey Antonio pressed his attack on the leadership of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines whom he charged of incompetence and disorganized management.

He also clarified that his resignation, along with that of fellow GM Bong Villamayor, from the ruling chess body didn’t mean that they have given up their slots in the national team.

"We’re still members of the national squad," said Antonio.

NCFP secretary-general Sammy Estimo the other day hinted that the two GMs might lose their slots in the national team following their decision to resign from the federation.

Antonio said they have submitted their resignation letter to NCFP president Mat Defensor Tuesday, saying they have "lost confidence in the NCFP management and do not wish to let them continue to use our name in the fund-raising campaign."

The two GMs also asked the NCFP to remove their names from the official letterhead where they are listed as members of the executive committee.

"But we will continue to support RP chess through our own efforts," he added.

Actually, Antonio and Villamayor were set to bolt the NCFP as early as last year but delayed it in deference to the RP team’s participation in the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam.

The Filipino chessers went on to bag three gold and three bronze medals, a feat which Estimo said would belie Antonio’s charges of disorganized management.

But Antonio said the strong finish should be credited to the players themselves and not to NCFP.

"Ni wala nga kaming training for the SEA Games. Individual training na lang ang nangyari. In fact, sa Ho Chi Minh na lang nagkita-kita ang grupo. So, papano niya sasabihin na dahil sa NCFP kaya successful ang campaign?" Antonio said.

Antonio also questioned Estimo’s role as coach of that team when in fact he’s not allowed to assume the duty being the sec-gen of the federation. — Dante Navarro