POC ethics body awaits mandate

MANILA, Philippines - A special ethics committee created by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) will be given marching orders during the Executive Board meeting on Feb. 20 and the five-man team is likely to recommend sanctions on those found guilty of attempted bribery in the last General Assembly elections.

The committee is headed by Frank Elizalde, honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with POC legal consultant Atty. Ramon Malinao, Philippine delegation chef de mission to the 2012 Asian Beach Games Dr. Benjamin (Chippy) Espiritu, former Philippine Tournament Bridge Association secretary-general Sylvia Alejandro and three-time Olympic cager Ramoncito Campos as members.

POC first vice president Joey Romasanta said yesterday the team will put a closure to the incident that was disclosed by the POC Election Committee before the polls at the Alabang Country Club last November. Election Committee member Br. Bernard Oca of De La Salle University reported to the General Assembly that money changed hands and an envelope containing P45,000 and a candidates flyer was handed to Philippine Karatedo Federation secretary-general Raymund Reyes. The envelope was turned over by Reyes to Romasanta who surrendered it to POC president Jose Cojuangco, Jr. It is now in the Election Committee’s custody.

Romasanta said there were other pieces of “incriminating” evidence that the special ethics committee will investigate once its mandate is defined. The evidence includes texts to Wrestling Association of the Philippines president Juan Balde alerting him about a “secret” meeting and a brown envelope containing a one-page computer printout of an expense schedule detailing recipients of alleged bribe money. No amounts were placed in the printout which was found by Table Tennis Association of the Philippines secretary-general Annie Andanar. Romasanta said the brown envelope was inadvertently left behind by its owner after the POC elections.

“The mandate of the Election Committee was to conduct the elections, that’s all,” said Romasanta. “There is no mandate to investigate any form of anomaly. That mandate has supposedly been given to the special ethics committee whose functions will be clearly defined in the coming Executive Board meeting. The Board will decide how far the committee will go in its investigation. It may lead to recommending sanctions.”

Romasanta said once the mandate is confirmed, he expects the committee to summon Valde, Reyes and certain candidates and voters for questioning. The committee will also examine the envelope given to Reyes and the brown envelope found by Andanar. Romasanta said the committee may summon Athletes Commission representatives Harry Tanamor and Marestella Torres to shed light on what they know about the incident.

Last Wednesday, the General Assembly was convened at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong and an item in the agenda was the approval of the minutes of the last elections which in effect constituted a General Assembly meeting. The minutes mentioned Br. Oca’s disclosure in an incident report. 

During the General Assembly meeting, a plaque of commendation was presented to the POC Election Committee led by Rep. Victorico Chaves with Br. Oca and Ricky Palou as members. The plaque referred to the Committee’s success in preventing bribery and cheating in the polls. A plaque of recognition was also awarded to Elizalde for 27 years of service as IOC representative. It took five years for Elizalde to become an IOC member, replacing Filipino Jorge Vargas. Elizalde’s term as IOC member expired last year but he remains an honorary member with no voting or speaking rights.

Romasanta said in submitting its final report, the Election Committee recommended a definition of active participation for qualified candidates in future elections as at least 80 percent attendance in General Assembly meetings during a year. The Committee also suggested a provision that a National Sports Association represented by a candidate must maintain a national team actively participating in international competitions. It also pushed to revisit a provision in the POC Constitution and By-Laws concerning the winning vote for an unopposed candidate, particularly for president.