Bambol to run unopposed

MANILA, Philippines — Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines president Rep. Bambol Tolentino is cleared to run for POC chairman in the polls recently ordered by the Pasig Regional Trial Court to take place on Feb. 23 and according to a lawyer who requested anonymity, no other NSA official will be permitted to seek the same position, assuring his election as an unopposed candidate.

Tolentino was disqualified by the POC COMELEC to run for chairman in the POC elections in November 2016. The other candidate Tom Carrasco was also disqualified but for a different reason. Tolentino was struck out because the COMELEC ruled he was not an active member in the POC General Assembly over the previous two years. Carrasco was rejected because a candidate for chairman can only be an NSA president of an Olympic sport and he’s the secretary-general of triathlon.

In a court ruling dated last Dec. 1, judge Maria Gracia Cadiz-Casaclang said the COMELEC’s basis for disqualifying Tolentino was “invalid” as “it cannot take it upon itself to restrict or qualify the term ‘active member’ … as to mean physical presence in the meetings of the General Assembly.” The court issued the same ruling in ABAP president Ricky Vargas’ case. Vargas was disqualified by the COMELEC as candidate for president on the same grounds as Tolentino. 

Because the controversy involved only Tolentino and Vargas, the court ordered new POC elections strictly for chairman and president on Feb. 23. All other candidates who were elected in 2016 retain their positions as they were voted on valid grounds. No candidate was ruled eligible by the COMELEC to run for chairman so the position is now vacant.

With the court’s recent ruling, only the candidates for chairman and president in the November 2016 elections will be allowed to run for the same positions on Feb. 23 to include Tolentino and Vargas. No new candidate may be allowed as the court ruled the inclusion of only Tolentino and Vargas. Incumbent POC president Jose Cojuangco, Jr. is the only other candidate allowed to run for president.

Under the POC By-Laws, the sitting president will be held over in the case of any electoral dispute even if his election was nullified. Cojuangco will not be required to vacate his position despite the recent court order. He may continue to preside over POC Executive Board and General Assembly meetings.

The POC may try to stall the Feb. 23 polls by seeking redress from the Court of Appeals through a TRO. But it can file a motion for a TRO before the Court of Appeals only within 15 days from receipt of the lower court order. The POC, as a legal entity, will require Board approval to run to the Court of Appeals for a TRO. 

Meanwhile, a POC official said the call for new elections does not constitute government intervention.  “This is part of the democratic process,” he said.  “It’s when government installs or influences the election of the president or members of a National Olympic Committee that the IOC will object.”