Valbuena blames former sec-gen

Table tennis chief Vic Valbuena yesterday denied all the charges hurled against him and accused his former secretary-general Oscar Santelices as the man behind the demolition job.

Valbuena said all the charges — from mishandling of funds to overpricing of equipment purchased for the 23rd Southeast Asian Games last December — have already been settled and that the said cases were but old issues.

"Maybe he’s (Santelices) angry at me because I let him go," said Valbuena, who was re-elected president of the Table Tennis Association of the Philippines (TATAP).

Santelices was national team coach for more than six years until 2004 when he became secretary-general before Valbuena allowed the former to resign.

Valbuena said they have already prepared a liquidation report to be submitted to the Philippine Olympic Committee, the Philippine Sports Commission and the First Gentleman’s Foundation.

To clear his name, Valbuena met with Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose "Peping" Cojuangco Jr. last Wednesday where he announced that he’d be more than willing to submit himself to a re-election to be observed by a neutral POC representative.

"The reason I called a re-election is not only to clear my name, but also to re-organize the association because I believe there’s a future in table tennis," said Valbuena.

He was referring to the RP team’s recent success in the SEAG where it took home a silver medal for the first time since the Games’ inception in 1977.

The SM Foundation, godfather of the sport in the SEAG, has accused TATAP of shortchanging the athletes who participated in the 48th Volkswagen World Championship in Shanghai, China in May last year. The athletes were reportedly given an allowance of $50, or a $100 short than what the sponsor has allotted.

Also, the requested supplies, such as blades, rackets, glue and rubber pads, purchased by TATAP were allegedly overpriced. The FGF remitted P863,000 but it found out upon inspection that the supplies were worth only P657,000.

Valbuena denied all these charges.