Philippine volleyball appears to be taking the same pathway from disaster to salvation as basketball. Before SBP was created, basketball was in turmoil and the national federation known as Basketball Association of the Philippines was suspended by FIBA in 2005. The crisis worsened when the BAP office was padlocked and the courts got involved in settling the leadership dispute. In 2007, SBP was established and brought stakeholders from different sectors together.
Volleyball was similarly wracked by internal conflicts and suspended by FIVB. The problem surfaced in 2014, prompting FIVB to withdraw recognition of Philippine Volleyball Federation and provisionally accredit Larong Volleyball Sa Pilipinas. In 2021, PNVF was born and Tats Suzara was elected president. PNVF was later recognized by FIVB as the national federation. Last May, FIVB suspended PNVF over governance issues and ethical violations. Eventually, the suspension was lifted. In the meantime, PNVF had a rotation of presidents from Suzara to Tony Boy Liao to Frank Lao over the last 10 months following a series of elections. Lao took over PNVF last Aug. 10, a month before the start of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Lao’s agreement to head PNVF was heroic. He inherited an organization that was saddled with debt of over P30 million. Still, Lao didn’t shirk from the responsibility of putting things in order. He dug into his own pockets to cover outstanding back pay and provide for expenses leading to the Asian Games. The estimate is Lao has coughed up about P10 million so far. There remains a debt of over P20 million to service and Lao intends to pay it off somehow.
In Nagoya, the Philippines is represented in men’s and women’s indoor and beach volleyball. Both the men and women indoor teams list 12 players each. In beach volleyball, there are eight players, two men and six women.
The men’s team got off to a poor start, losing to South Korea, 3-0 then team captain Bryan Bagunas came out in media to disclose that players hadn’t received their allowance since July and some resorted to borrowing money to prepare for the Asiad. Imagine the hate wave this revelation triggered. Malacanang even released a statement that Bagunas’ claims would be investigated. As they should be.
PNVF reacted to Bagunas’ charges with an apology and an assurance from Lao that shortcomings would be addressed. At the same time, it was confirmed that Bagunas had never approached PSC about this matter. Knowing PSC chairman Patrick Gregorio, he would’ve immediately tackled the problem if it was presented. Lao appealed to Bagunas and the players to understand the situation. He didn’t point a finger to anyone responsible but accepted the blame despite his innocence. That’s the mark of a true leader. Lao promised to get to the bottom of the mess and fix it. Let’s give him the space to do it. Lao has an impeccable reputation as a businessman and sports patron. His reputation speaks for itself.
Bagunas’ voicing out came in poor timing. Surely, it affected other athletes competing in Nagoya and ignited negativity in social media. Washing dirty linen in public is never a good thing, particularly if a country’s honor is at stake. Perhaps, he could’ve waited until the end of the Asian Games to pour out his sentiments and secure an audience with POC, PSC and PNVF. But since the cat’s out of the bag, this issue begs for attention. For sure, when the Philippine delegation returns home from Nagoya, POC and PSC will confer with PNVF and the athletes to resolve this problem.