Resolving NSA disputes

It isn’t easy settling long-standing disputes involving NSAs in the POC but slowly and surely, the knots are being untied with a lot of prodding from POC president Ricky Vargas and diligent decision-making from POC membership committee chairman Bob Bachmann.

The disputes are basically leadership issues. Elections are supposed to decide who’s who but there is usually a problem in determining the list of eligible voters. In the pre-SBP era, when the BAP held sway, the president was elected by the regional members of the Board who were appointed by the president so the principle of the equity of the incumbent was thoroughly abused. 

When Vargas assumed the POC presidency, he promised an administration built on transparency, integrity and democracy. So far, so good. He appointed Bachmann to be in charge of the powerful membership committee because of his strong adherence to do what is right. Bachmann, the son of the late basketball legend Kurt, took over the presidency of the squash NSA on a mandate mainly supported by athletes and coaches a few years ago. He has turned things around for the sport, setting national records of achievement in both the SEA and Asian Games and the pro circuit.

United Philippine Surfing Association (UPSA) president Dr. Jose Raul Canlas recently commented that when he submitted the application papers of his organization to become a POC-recognized NSA to Bachmann, the process was clearly on a professional level. In meeting Canlas, Bachmann was with another member of his committee, Quintin Pastrana of rowing and a third member Pearl Managuelod of muay thai participated via Skype as she was in Canada. 

Professionalizing the standards and procedures of the POC membership committee is imperative so that it is beyond reproach. POC sanction is required for an NSA to receive PSC and POC funding and accreditation to represent the country in international competitions. Additionally, a POC-recognized NSA has the right to participate in the General Assembly either as a voting or non-voting member. So the recommendation of the POC membership committee is critical for an NSA to exist and survive.

Bachmann said his philosophy is in line with Vargas’ thinking of each NSA being inclusive. “We want to unify everybody involved in one NSA,” he said. “In holding elections, we follow what the By-Laws stipulate in determining who are the eligible voters. We dig deep into the records of years back to determine the SEC status of each NSA. We are objective in our investigation and analysis. We don’t take sides. We abide by the rules. That’s the only way to professionalize how things are decided by our committee.”

If an NSA is in disarray and there is resistance to abide by what is legally right, Bachmann won’t hesitate to recommend suspension as in the case of the beleaguered Philippine Swimming Inc. Suspension will force an NSA to put its house in order because unless the suspension is lifted, it will not receive financial assistance from the PSC nor POC and it will not be able to represent the country in international events. A suspended NSA may also not participate in the General Assembly.

Bachmann said several NSAs are still in limbo. “We are reviewing the case of table tennis and motor sports,” he said. “Weightlifting, tennis and karate are not suspended but they have serious leadership issues that will be resolved with POC-supervised elections. Take the weightlifting NSA. It had been stripped of SEC recognition for over 10 years. A new organization was established by one faction claiming a change of name but that wasn’t the answer to the problem. The weightlifting NSA has since been reinstated by the SEC so we expect elections to be held soon. In tennis, there are several groups disputing the presidency and we will also hold elections soon to settle it. In e-sports, there are at least three organizations applying for POC recognition so we must be very discerning in deciding which to sanction.”

Bachmann said the disputes in NSAs in bowling, equestrian, volleyball and canoe/kayak/dragonboat have been resolved. The Philippine Bowling Federation has voted Steve Robles as president with Sen. Tito Sotto as chairman and legends Paeng Nepomuceno and Bong Coo supporting the organization. Equestrian voted to retain former congressman Jose Cojuangco Jr. as president in a poll supervised by Bachmann himself. Volleyball chose Peter Cayco as president of Larong Volleyball Sa Pilipinas which has received POC sanction and deposed the previous NSA Philippine Volleyball Federation. Jonne Go was determined to be president of the unified Philippine Canoe Kayak Dragonboat Federation.