Philippine Olympic Committee says no to wushu poll results

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Olympic Committee has formally nullified the results of the elections conducted by the Wushu Federation of the Philippines last Oct. 7 and continued to recognize Julian Camacho as WFP president.

David Yang was elected president and Tai Lan as chairman in the said elections. The POC, however, said the exercise did not comply with the requirements of the Olympic body.

“As such, no POC observer was sent, a requirement for the recognition of NSA elections,” POC secretary-general Steve Hontiveros said in a letter to all concerned.

“The POC cannot recognize the results of this election. We therefore continue to recognize the legitimacy of the election of Mr. Julian Camacho who remains the representative of wushu to the POC general assembly,” said the letter.

Camacho has been at the helm of wushu for 16 years now, and said he will no longer seek the presidency although he might run for a different position.

Camacho has ordered a “house cleaning” that will include verification of its 63 board members, athletes and coaches, and a review of its constitution and by-laws.

“Everything would be in order by the end of April. We just need to fix everything here first,” said Camacho, adding that soon after he will call for an election.

The POC has also ordered elections for badminton and cycling on May 9 and is also looking into the disputes surrounding wrestling and even equestrian, which is under POC president Jose Cojuangco.

Billiards had its own elections recently and the POC recognized Bong Ilagan as its new president and Putch Puyat as chairman.

“The key to all these disputes is the by-laws and constitution of each NSA. We want to practice fairness among everyone,” said POC spokesman Jose Romasanta.

He said the NSAs that will soon hold elections should use the same by-laws that were used when the sitting president was elected as well as the list of members. – Abac Cordero