GTK urges sacrifice for athletes

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (PATAFA) president Go Teng Kok said yesterday chaos, disunity and divisiveness will continue to plague Philippine sports unless officials agree to compromise and sacrifice personal interests for the sake of athletes.

Go, who plays the role of troubleshooter as special assistant to POC president Jose Cojuangco Jr., traced the root of the problems in NSAs (National Sports Associations) with leadership disputes to an unwillingness of officials to give up or share power, some even resorting to changing provisions in the Constitution and By-Laws to preserve their authority.

But Go said the POC is taking steps to resolve pending NSA issues. He reported on a recent breakthrough in the NSA for billiards with the recognition by its International Federation (IF) of the election of Putch Puyat as chairman and Bong Ilagan as president after brokering a meeting with the Asian governing body in Taipei.

Next on the agenda is the resolution of the leadership row in cycling. Cojuangco has designated POC chairman Rep. Monico Puentevella, first vice president Manny Lopez and Go to look into the legitimacy of two election results – one voting Rolando Hiso as president and the other Mikee Romero. Go said the POC Executive Board, which includes IOC representative Frank Elizalde, will decide who is the duly-elected president.

Go said he has suggested a power-sharing solution to end the dispute in wushu where Pan Si Lin was recently voted president and Julian Camacho secretary-general. Go accused Camacho, the incumbent POC treasurer, of rigging the election ground rules to enfranchise hand-picked voters and thwarting the presidential bid of popular candidate Alvin Tailian. The solution involves a compromise where Pan will serve the first six months as president then elevated to chairman with Tailian as president in the next six after which the alternating cycle of rotation will restart.

In equestrian, Go said he expects no difficulty in reaffirming Cojuangco’s presidency despite the recent pronouncement of party-list Rep. Carissa Coscolluela as the new NSA head by the IF. Once Cojuangco submits evidence to prove his claim, the IF will relent, assured Go.

The SBP is also under investigation by FIBA which recently formed a special commission to look into charges that disunity still prevails in the sport despite the Bangkok Agreement. Go offered to broker an arrangement where the SBP will finally achieve unity.

Go confirmed earlier reports that FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann met with BAP president Prospero Pichay, secretary-general Graham Lim and former FIBA president Carl Men Ky Ching in Hong Kong. He admitted requesting Ching to host the meeting in Lim’s behalf.

“We know the SBP is doing a good job but we also know that Graham still has clout in FIBA-Asia and won’t stop lobbying for support from FIBA,” said Go. “Why not tap Graham to contribute? No matter what anyone thinks of him, he’s a hard worker. I’m sure if the SBP reaches out to him and the BAP, we can finally achieve total unity.”

Go downplayed the recent letter by certain individuals claiming to represent nine NSAs to the IOC charging the POC of abuse of authority. “We found out that was the work of one disgruntled and discredited sports official who used to get millions for his sports projects but now is out of the picture,” he said. “Some of those who signed aren’t even recognized in their sports. That kind of publicity hurts us as a country more than the POC. It’s not right.”

Go said the practice of seeking recognition from IFs to try to supersede decisions by the POC is highly irregular and contrary to the Olympic charter.

“It’s like the United Nations overruling the election of President Arroyo,” said Go. “The proper chain of recognition starts with the POC then the IF. You need POC clearance before you can be recognized by the IF. Now, we’re seeing certain officials trying to use personal connections with IF officials to go backdoor as in the case of equestrian.”

Go said in deciding leadership disputes, the POC looks into three things——first, a win-win situation for all parties; second, who is the athletes’ choice and third, count the ballots only of those who voted in the previous election where there was no protest.

On the issue of POC officials retaining their positions despite losing NSA authority, Go said morally, they should resign but technically, they may remain in office such as the previous cases of Gen. Rene Cruz and Freddie Jalasco. Cruz was voted POC president then lost the presidency of the NSA in badminton to Mrs. Ming Ramos but stayed as POC head.