POC to supervise Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines election

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has approved the request of majority of Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) directors to supervise their election on March 31 as it seeks to finally put an end to the long-drawn leadership dispute in the association.

The POC also said it hopes that after the election, the BSCP would put its focus on the preparation of players for major international tournaments, including the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Laos, where billiards is one of the Philippines’ best hopes.

Aristeo “Putch” Puyat, known as the original godfather of Philippine billiards, said until a new election is held, the POC will handle the affairs of the BSCP, and has appointed Col. Buddy Andrada of tennis as the man in charge of the association.

Puyat, a director at BSCP, said his group is fielding Bong Ilagan, formerly of Project: Gintong Alay, as their top candidate.

“Siya ang gusto ng tao (The people want him). He’s the most neutral of all possible candidates,” said Puyat, who also urged the POC to seriously look into the list of voters before it becomes official.

“It’s been four years since the BSCP held an election. So I hope that on March 31 we will have a new election,” Puyat said.

He added those who voted in the 2005 BSCP elections are the ones who should vote this time. There were 15 voters four years ago, but one had passed away.

“We should stick to that list. The BSCP wanted to hold an election last December, but they showed a list of 17 voters, including persons who are not even recognized,” he said.

Ernie Fajardo, president of BSCP, did not answer calls from The STAR.

The POC is inclined to allow the original list of members to participate on March 31 elections.

“We’re very happy and thankful to the POC for approving our request,” said Ilagan, also a BSCP director. “We hope that this will put an end to whatever controversy hounding our association, bring normalcy back in Philippine billiards.”

The holding of the BSCP election is also urgent as the WPA (World Pool Association) has come out with a policy that they will not allow players who are not members of its local affiliate, in the Philippines ‘ case the BSCP, to participate in all the WPA-sanctioned events.

Most of the country’s top players, led by pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes, have dissociated themselves from the BSCP in favor of the Billiards Managers Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP). – With reports from Abac Cordero