New life, new rules?

Easter is Christendom’s reason for being, with most of us who didn’t evacuate the city flocking to churches to renew our baptismal vows.

Doing so, we reiterated our belief in fighting evil, and all its attendant circumstances.

But in sports, there seems to be no change aborning. In fact, there are even rules at the very top echelon of sports that provide convenient loopholes for failing politicians and officials to perpetuate themselves in power, even without the authority vested in them by their very constituents.

Take the Philippine Olympic Committee, for example. It elects members of its board every four years, and they get to stay in power whether or not they are still affiliated with their own national sports associations. By some quirk of timing, some NSAs even hold their elections after the POC holds its own. At any rate, NSAs are supposed to vote new boards every year, so it’s bound to happen that someone is booted out of his post at the association level, but still holds sway in the POC.

After being questioned on protocol of their upcoming election, a similar new amendment in the Equestrian Association of the Philippines (EAP) is being invoked by POC president Peping Cojuangco, who is in his post by virtue of being president of the association. Cojuangco originally announced an election for March 31, as mandated by the EAP’s constitution. It was to be held at his residence, in a clear case of conflict of interest. Naturally, athletes and other board members questioned the venue for the election, the same place where Cojuangco had railroaded the Basketball Association of the Philippines out of the POC three years ago. “It’s really inappropriate and unethical. Why does it have to be in his house?” says Buhay partylist and EAP board member Rep. Carissa Coscolluela, a former rider who has been supporting and even funding equatrian teams abroad for the past few years. “That’s why I wrote them to question it.”

Instead of answering Coscolluela, the EAP issued a statement saying that elections would no longer be held, citing a new amendment scheduling elections every four years, or in this case, in 2012. But according to Coscolluela, the amendment still has to be ratified by the general assembly before implementation.

Failing that, Coscolluela and a group being led by Olympian Toni Leviste are going to in turn invoke a portion of the EAP constitution that states that an election may be called for by one-third of the voting membership of the EAP. She and Leviste claim to have the numbers.

“Not just anybody can be a member of the EAP,” Leviste claims. “They made the rules hard. You have to either be a horse owner or a rider.

We have people with us who want to change the direction of the sport, which is dying. There really hasn’t been any improvement since they came to power in 2001.”

The group wrote a letter asking for a dialogue, and is giving Cojuangco and company until today to respond. And they request that the POC stop commenting about the issue.

“I don’t understand why Joey Romasanta is issuing statements about it, the POC is not involved. That’s a conflict of interest,“ Coscolluela declared. “And they’re raising concerns about our group. Why don’t they mention names? They can’t because all our members are legitimate.”

“We just want to bring in people who have no personal agenda, who have what is best for the sport in their hearts,” Leviste adds. “The new riders and their parents are uncertain about their future because they don’t see the EAP organizing international competitions here in the Philippines.”

A few years ago, Leviste was flown from Europe to Malaysia by the organizers of the Malaysian Grand Prix. She was slated to join the Southeast Asian Games immediately after. But the EAP was not even able to fly her the short distance to the competition. She tried asking the Malaysian federation if she and her horse could ride on their plane.

They declined. The Philippines did not medal.

Sometimes, it is the spirit of the law, and not its letter, that should be followed, particularly in this season of new beginnings.