Give And Go
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Last Sunday the Philippine Olympic Committee held special elections for top officials aimed at setting the house in order after the organization was rocked by leadership issues recently.
Elected as president was Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines (PhilCycling) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, who beat out Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) president Philip Ella Juico with a vote of 24-20.
Tolentino was former POC chairman during the short stay of Ricky Vargas as president.
Vargas’s resignation last month forced the POC to set special elections after what was hoped to be a seamless succession of leadership proved to be tumultuous one with various accusations flung left and right.
The situation was turning murkier by the day so much so that the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia found it necessary to step in and facilitate in the immediate resolution of the POC leadership quagmire.
Elected as well was Steve Hontiveros of handball as chairman, winning over taekwondo’s Robert Aventajado, 26-18. Hontiveros ran with Juico while Aventajado was with the group of Tolentino.
Winning a spot in the POC executive board are Clint Arañas of archery and Cynthia Carrion of gymnastics after garnering 24 and 23 votes, higher than those received by Monico Puentevella of weightlifting (21) and swimming’s Lani Velasco (19).
Arañas was with the group of Juico along with Velasco while Carrion and Puentevella were with Tolentino.
Tolentino would serve the remaining term of Mr. Vargas which runs until after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Short his term may be, Tolentino expressed hope that the POC could restart and get its act together collectively after accepting the position of POC president.
For this space, the POC in no other way should treat the recently held elections as a restart and set affairs of the organization straight.
In the last five weeks, following the step-down of Vargas, the country has seen further how relations in the POC are difficult, leaving many to take its officials to task for such a state.
Well, this electoral proceedings afford them an opportunity to address that.
Admittedly it make take some time to reach “kumbaya state” among officials as seemingly the divide has some deep roots, and judging from the body language of the officials after the elections there are still some awkwardness to it all.
But that should not stop them from doing what is right and good for the POC office, and, more importantly, the athletes who look up to them for guidance and direction.
It should help that the results of the elections crossed party-lines, making working together not only “easier,” but also necessary since whether they like it or not their paths will continue to cross.
I have said this before and I will say it again, naive as I may sound, I believe the country’s sports officials have the welfare of the sporting community in mind but just have their own ways of going about it.
A meeting of the minds is called upon. The time to heed the call is now.
Michael Angelo S. Murillo has been a columnist since 2003. He is a BusinessWorld reporter covering the Sports beat.
