TATAP rapped for overpricing, funds misuse

The SM Foundation, godfather of table tennis in the recent Southeast Asian Games, has accused the Table Tennis Association of the Philippines (TATAP) of mishandling of funds and overpricing even before the biennial meet was staged.

Florentino "Boy" Santos, the SM representative who is also a consultant of the First Gentleman’s Foundation, made the charges in a letter sent to TATAP head Vic Valbuena dated Aug. 18, or several months before the Games.

No less than the FGF monitoring head and former Philippine Sports Commission chair Carlos "Butch" Tuason verified the complaint.

"It’s legitimate," Tuason yesterday told The STAR in a phone interview.

It accused TATAP of giving the 12 athletes, who participated in the 48th Volkswagen World Championship in Shanghai, China in May last year, per diem of only $50, or $100 short than what SM has allotted.

TATAP said the rest of the amount was used to pay for hotel, food and other expenses.

They also said that the supplies — blades, rackets, glue and rubber pads — purchased by TATAP were overpriced. The FGF remitted P863,000 but it found out upon inspection that the materials were worth only P657,000.

Valbuena denied all the charges.

Santos said the FGF and SM Foundation have obtained enough documents to pin down the culprits at TATAP. He also showed his willingness to testify before the Philippine Olympic Committee.

After the incident, SM, which also sponsored arnis, badminton and volleyball, has decided to channel the funds directly to the athletes. — Joey Villar