The Philippine Olympic Committee maze

Now that the new Philippine Olympic Committee leadership has assumed office, it is starting to dawn on them how much work needs to be done. Beyond dealing with the vestiges of the old boys club of their predecessors, there is still so much political wasteland to navigate. There is a lot of spadework and infrastructure to be laid down, not just for the immediate big events like the Asian Games and next year’s SEA Games, but also long-term solutions to long-standing ills. Many issues have to be sifted through and sorted out. Old rules have to be rooted out and replaced with regulations that benefit everyone. 

“All the standing commissions have to be reactivated, for starters,” says the POC membership committee’s Bob Bachmann of squash. “We need to be able to regulate ourselves to clean house and fix what isn’t working.”

Bachmann started forming the membership team middle of the week. This early, they have already received at least one application for a new member, from amateur bodybuilding federation National Athletic Committee (NAC) Philippines. Among the issues that must be addressed are having members run more than one national sports association, charges of officials stealing funds from athletes. The change of culture has to take hold for all of the positive changes to take hold. And it will not be easy. 

“We will have to look into all these issues, and review the rules,” declares Monico Puentevella of weightlifting. “But what is most important – if we really love Philippine sports – is to work together for the better of sports.”

But when new POC president Ricky Vargas went to his office this week, there was a boatload of meetings to be held, a stack of letters to read through, and dozens of phone calls to answer. 

“This feels like a full-time job,” admits feisty POC deputy-secretary general Karen Caballero of sepak takraw. “But it needs to be done, and we volunteered for the job.”

Caballero was the target of a petition by some unhappy elements of the previous dispensation, who wrote a letter demanding that Vargas remove her for lack of qualification. Ironically, Caballero is the first female to rise to the board level of her sport’s international federation. She shrugged off the petition, leaving it to her bosses to work out, and just buckled down to work. She was with Vargas and POC chairman Bambol Tolentino’s unprecedented swearing in Malacañang. That speaks volumes about the trust the new POC administration has in her. So it appears she’s not going anywhere.

One adjustment a corporate master like Vargas has to make is to be more immersed in his new milieu, be more consultative and inclusive. It may make decision-making a bit slower, but it will keep everybody happy. Bachmann reveals that the POC board is constantly in communication via their Viber group, so it’s like they’re together all the time, anyway. Personally, he has been waiting for these changes since they were first broached to him by his old friend, long-time board official Joey Romasanta.

“Joey has been wanting change for a long time,” says Bachmann, putting credit where it is due. “The relationship with the previous leadership had deteriorated, things were getting ugly, and we were both frustrated.”

The new POC also has to navigate the various levels of sensitivity, skepticism, and uncooperativeness that they will face for those who don’t believe in honeymoon periods. Remember, the old guard is just displaced, not banished, and the overstaying feeling of entitlement is still there. And some people who helped in the campaign to ensconce the new administration may be expecting something in return. In any political upheaval, someone will always end up discontented. That may fester and turn loyalists into opposition if left unaddressed. 

Team Vargas brings in management experience, a healthy purse, and younger leaders eager to show what they can do. As long as they don’t ruffle too many feathers and stay true to the agenda, we can expect Philippine sports to gradually get better.