Wanted: Source of unity in POC

MANILA, Philippines - There are 43 qualified voters in the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) elections on Nov. 30 and POC first vice president Manny Lopez, opposing Jose Cojuangco Jr.’s bid for a third straight four-year term as POC president, said yesterday at least 25 are clamoring for a change in leadership.

Lopez declined to identify the composition of the so-called Group of 25 but said the representatives are calling on ABAP chairman and SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan to file his candidacy for POC president on or before the deadline of Oct. 26. He said of the 43 voting NSAs, only 12 are closely identified with Cojuangco and six are undecided.

On the possibility that Pangilinan may be disqualified as a candidate due to technicality, Lopez said the final arbiter of qualification is the POC General Assembly. Under Section 11, Article VII of the POC Constitution and By-Laws, the chairman and president of the POC must have at least four years experience as NSA president of an Olympic sport and they must have been active members of the General Assembly for two consecutive years at the time of their election. The apprehension is Pangilinan does not attend General Assembly meetings although he is always represented by authorized officials. But Lopez said even as Pangilinan is not physically present in General Assembly meetings, he remains an active participant.

“There is a lack of direction in our sports program and we think MVP can provide the vision,” said Lopez. “There is also the absence of a real grassroots development program that should be linked to the Department of Education, LGUs and other vital agencies. With MVP, we can muster the resources for our athletes to be competitive internationally because he can generate private sector support. We need a source of unity, not a source of disunity. There are at least 11 NSAs in turmoil because of leadership problems that can’t be resolved. We don’t need relatives to be appointed to sensitive positions. We need someone who can inspire excellence.”

If Pangilinan declines to run, he could anoint a candidate, perhaps ABAP president and SBP vice chairman Ricky Vargas whose family lineage is traced to the country’s first IOC member Jorge Vargas, his grandfather. It’s also possible that Pangilinan will run as chairman and Vargas as president in a common ticket. Incumbent POC chairman Monico Puentevella is running for reelection but said he will withdraw if Pangilinan seeks the position.

Lopez said he is keeping his options open on whether to run for a POC position. Because he is not the president of an NSA representing an Olympic sport, Lopez is not qualified to run for POC chairman or president. The other elective positions are first vice president, second vice president, treasurer, auditor and four executive board members.

Reacting to accusations that he has done nothing as POC first vice president except to forward a motion to declare Go Teng Kok as persona-non-grata in the General Assembly, Lopez said his detractors have short memories. “As the Philippine delegation’s chef de mission at the London Olympics, I was able to get private sector support for our P12 Million budget, the first time this was done without government funding,” he said. “I’ve never been absent from an Executive Board or General Assembly meeting. I worked to create an Athletes Commission to be represented in the General Assembly with Harry Tañamor and Marestella Torres as voting members. I also worked for an athlete, Timmy Chua of swimming, to be represented in the Executive Board in line with the IOC doctrine. I worked to downgrade bodybuilding from regular to associate member and elevated rugby and muay to regular membership. Rugby is now an Olympic sport and I worked for its elevation as a regular member from scratch. I was a proponent for the integration of dragon boat into the Canoe Kayak Federation and I’ve represented our country in official functions at the Southeast Asian level. Surely, those accomplishments count for something.”

Lopez said the claim of achievement for pushing NSAs to register with the SEC is no big deal since it was made a requirement in 1995 when Philip Juico was PSC chairman. “It’s a shame that some people have to bother my father (former PSC chairman Mel Lopez) for the POC elections,” he said. “I’m an obedient son and I’ll always follow what my parents, especially my father, tell me to do. There’s no cause to try to make my father feel guilty or even threaten him. What we’re doing is for our country, for the future of Philippine sports. It’s a fact that Philippine sports is now plagued by mediocrity. In the IOC, there are term and age limits for president. Why are there none in the POC?”