Chessers charge NCFP of forgery

Members of the national team who competed in the World Chess Olympiad in Bled, Slovenia two years ago yesterday claimed that the National Chess Federation of the Philippines forged their signatures to obtain money from the Philippine Sports Commission that was meant for their training allowances that they never got.

In 2002, the NCFP got P1,128,000 from the PSC as reimbursement for "training allowances" of the national team to the Bled Olympiad and for the expenses it incurred in organizing the National Open chess championship during the same year.

NCFP secretary Sammy Estimo received the PSC check for the amount on June 17 based on the government sports agency’s record books.

The NCFP presented a payroll sheet with the supposed signatures of the players and coach of the RP team to show that they got their stipends from June to August in the liquidation report the association furnished the PSC two months later." Each player supposedly got P90,000 each or P30,000 a month.

But Grandmasters Joey Antonio, Bong Villamayor, International Master Nelson Mariano II and Petronio Roca and Woman FIDE Master Sheerie Joy Lomibao, who were all RP team members to the Bled Chessfest, denied "we ever received our allowances from the NCFP."

"Our signatures were faked to justify that liquidation report," they said.

"We are now preparing a letter to the PSC requesting chairman Eric Buhain to look into the matter and we are also planning to file legal action against the NCFP," said Villamayor, the group’s spokesman.

"We plan to sue the NCFP not only because it failed to give us our allowances for the Bled Olympiad but also because it forged our signatures to justify its reimbursement with the PSC," Villamayor added. Villamayor said the case ‘is another instance of the lack of transparency in the NCFP leadership of Estimo."