Who’s ruining POC

Joining the business delegation in the just concluded state visit in Japan by President Rodrigo Duterte, a top executive of the Metro Pacific Investment Corp.(MPIC) found out it could ruin one’s personal pursuit and advocacy in his private life. Victorico “Ricky” Vargas learned this lesson when he joined their boss, MPIC president Manuel “Manny” Pangilinan (MVP) in the business delegation of the presidential trip to Japan last week.

Vargas is currently the assistant director of the First Pacific Company (FPC) and head of the Business Transformation of Services, Inc. of the Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Co. (PLDT) Group, all under the umbrella of MPIC. He joined MVP and several other top MPIC executives in Tokyo who conducted their own meetings with counterpart Japanese businessmen.

Despite his busy schedule, Vargas is very active in his advocacy in supporting and promoting amateur boxing. He is currently the president of the Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines (ABAP). His love and dedication for this particular sports produced the most number of medal hauls to date by our country’s boxers and brought honor to the Philippines. In the last South East Asian (SEA) Games, ten out of ten Filipino boxers won their respective boxing matches.

As ABAP president, Vargas heads one of the 40 or so national sports associations (NSAs) comprising the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). Wanting to do more for the Philippine sports, and not just for boxing, Vargas decided to cast his bid to head the POC.

Because he was in Tokyo, Vargas was unceremoniously disqualified in his candidacy to become the next POC president. The POC committee on elections (comelec) ruled against Vargas for not being physically present last Wednesday at the general assembly to file his candidacy.

For the past 12 years, the POC is headed by incumbent  president, ex-Tarlac Congressman Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. who is gunning for fourth consecutive term in office. He is the younger brother of the late President Corazon Aquino and estranged uncle of former President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III. The uncle-nephew row widened in the last May 9 presidential elections when the ex-Tarlac congressman supported the bid of former Vice President Jejomar Binay instead of P-Noy’s anointed candidate, ex-interior secretary Mar Roxas II.

The 82-year-old Cojuangco has obviously found a hairline loophole to disqualify Vargas for not having an “active participation” at POC which really was technically not applicable. Ironically, Cojuangco, not Vargas, is in that situation if POC considers he is POC president as head of NSA for equestrian with practically no athletes in active competition under his wing.

With Vargas disqualified, this ensures the re-election bid of Cojuangco as POC president for another four years in office.

The camp of Vargas, however, vehemently questioned this technicality since he was duly represented at the general assembly as allowed in the house rules of the POC. Representing Vargas was Patrick “Pato” Gregorio, the senior vice president for commercial and marketing of Maynilad Water Services, Inc., one of the conglomerates under the MPIC umbrella. Gregorio strongly protested the disqualification but was overruled by the POC comelec.

The POC decision prompted Vargas’ camp to file a motion for reconsideration before the POC comelec. There is enough time to resolve this before the POC elections that will take place on Nov. 25.

 Long before he went to his new posts, I have known Vargas as the man who built up the Maynilad to where it is now after five years at its top helm. He was the president and CEO of Maynilad from August, 2010 until December, 2015 when MVP moved him to his present posts handling the business transformation efforts of the companies within the FPC and PLDT.

In fact, I have written several columns in the past about the innovations that Vargas had done to improve the water supply on the western part of Metro Manila. This is why they adopted the slogan: “The best in the west.”

Maynilad was one of the two concessionaires when the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) was privatized during the administration of former President Fidel Ramos. The other was Ayala-run Manila Water, serving the eastern section of Metro Manila.

Vargas’ being eased out from his bid to become the next POC president became our topic of conversations when top executives of Maynilad hosted a dinner last Wednesday night at The STAR editorial office. It is the traditional meet-and-greet gathering that Maynilad hosts every year that we came to know Vargas very well as a hands-on manager. (Disclosure: The STAR is also part of the MPIC Group under Media Quest.)

Present during the dinner were incumbent Maynilad president and chief executive officer Ramoncito Fernandez; Randolph Estrellado, chief operating officer; Jennifer Rufo, the head of Stakeholder and Corporate Communications; and Gregorio who was still in adrenalin rush after attending the POC general assembly earlier that day.

It was like a family gathering when siblings get to pour out their hearts for whatever perceived injury or injustice done to one member of the family. The Maynilad executives rabidly decried the bid of Vargas at the POC being frustrated by dirty politics. With the same level of passion, we also listened as they discussed to us in between topics about their latest water and sewerage expansion and services improvements projects.

Apparently emotions are still running high among MPIC executives. No less than MVP himself over the weekend broke his silence at the POC leadership contest. A sports patron himself, MVP underscored the need for fresh ideas and innovations to help Filipino athletes achieve greater heights in their respective fields of sports.

Pangilinan cited his own decision to step down this year as president of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) to give others a chance to serve. He was at the SBP helm for eight years and is credited for having brought back the Philippines in good standing with the International Basketball Federation (or the Geneva-based FIBA).

The lamentable state of our country’s sports is being left to political hands running, or should we say, ruining the POC affairs to the detriment of the welfare and interest of Filipino athletes.