Peping won't back down

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose Cojuangco Jr. accused the other day Buhay party list Rep. Carissa Coscolluela of rigging the members book of the Equestrian Association of the Philippines (EAP) by inserting unqualified individuals and refusing to validate the listing.

Cojuangco’s tirade came in the wake of Coscolluela’s claim as newly elected EAP president in an election she herself presided over in Makati last March 31.

The endless tug-of-war for leadership in the EAP has caused a serious strain in the country’s relationship with the Lausanne-based global governing body Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) which sent its second vice president Christopher John Hodson of New Zealand to settle the issue here last November but to no avail.

Coscolluela claimed the EAP presidency in an election in April last year but Cojuangco questioned the legitimacy of the poll. The FEI initially sanctioned Coscolluela but later withdrew its recognition after Cojuangco appealed the case in Lausanne. Last November, another election was scheduled with Hodson flying in to observe but Coscolluela doused cold water on the exercise by securing a temporary restraining order, exasperating the FEI executive.

In the latest incident, Coscolluela once more claimed the EAP presidency during a meeting where 22 of the 27 members in attendance voted for her to replace Cojuangco. But Cojuangco, who arrived at the meeting after Coscolluela’s election, said the EAP board of trustees has the sole authority to choose the president, not the regular members at large, and four of seven trustees declared the exercise as illegal.

“The results of the so-called election are not binding,” said POC spokesman Jose Romasanta yesterday. “It was a sham. There are clear rules set by the POC to determine the validity of an election in a National Sports Association. Each NSA is also guided by its Constitution and By-Laws as regards election procedures. Besides, Carissa claimed the election was authorized by the Regional Trial Court when it should be the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) that will legitimize it.”

Romasanta said the POC will not recognize Coscolluela’s election and doubted if the FEI would.

“There was no notice of election, no POC representative to observe the conduct and no clear guidelines on the voting procedures,” said Romasanta.

Cojuangco was infuriated by the allegedly brazen attempt to grab power.

“What do you call a supposed election that was started 12 minutes before the scheduled time of the meeting and finished in less than 15 minutes where the list of voters and proxies was approved only by the corporate secretary who without authority, opened and presided over the meeting and ended up getting elected president?” bewailed Cojuangco.

“”This is how Coscolluela now claims to be the president of the EAP. Being a very close ally of President Arroyo, she must think she can follow in the footsteps of her master. No wonder the party that made her a congresswoman took her out of their list in this coming election. Of course, from the very beginning, people were wondering how a millionaire like her could be considered to be marginalized and earn a seat in Congress.”

Cojuangco also charged Coscolluela of resorting to illegal means to advance her candidacy, alleging that “the reason she did not wait to have the list of voters validated is because she fraudulently got another members book from the SEC by declaring that the original book was lost when all the time, it was safely kept in the EAP office and then filled up her members book with unqualified persons who never went through the process of being approved by the EAP executive board.”

Cojuangco recalled that last November, Coscolluela disrupted what would have been a clear-cut solution to the leadership crisis by dragging the issue to the courts.

“Last Nov. 11, upon the suggestion of the FEI, an election was to be held with no less than an FEI Executive Board member (Hodson) present as observer,” said Cojuangco. “However, when Coscolluela saw she was going to lose the election, she managed to get a TRO from the same court (Regional Trial Court Makati branch 66) that now ordered this March 31 election. I hope this is not a sample of what we will experience on May 10.”

Coscolluela was conciliatory after claiming the presidency and said, “We now hope for common efforts towards unity so we can go back to the task of riding with pride for the glory of the country.” She explained that the exercise pushed through in compliance with the court order of judge Joselito Villarosa.

EAP secretary-general Steven Virata attended the recent election and questioned Coscolluela’s role in presiding over the meeting but was ignored.

Cojuangco appealed for a sober approach to resolve the problem but ruled out compromising with “fastbreak artists.”

“Apparently, she does not believe that patience is a virtue,” said Cojuangco. “We had repeatedly voiced this provision (that the EAP officers, including the president, are to be selected by the board of trustees not by regular members) along with other issues such as identifying first the bonafide members of the EAP and inviting a representative of the FEI to ensure the integrity of the election.”

Romasanta described the recent exercise where Coscolluela claimed the EAP presidency as “a whirlwind bogus election.”