The POC debacle

After the sudden resignation of Philippine Olympic Committee president Ricky Vargas, the sudden vacuum caused a maelstrom that put into doubt the staging of the Southeast Asian Games. In the last week, we’ve seen all those who caused Vargas’ resignation to quit all their committee posts (except one), then change their minds. It appeared that First Vice-President Joey Romasanta thought he would automatically assumed the presidency, but a letter from sepak takraw’s Karen Caballero cleared that up. Apparently, he is not qualified to be president. Whether he will be allowed to run in the elections mandated within 30 days (or on this case, the coming week) remains to be seen.

The meeting Tuesday was messy, to say the least. Ormoc mayor and fencing chief Richard Gomez, frustrated at the proceedings, supposedly berated all those involved in the politicking. Gomez, Asian Games chief of mission, who wakes up at 3 a.m. to fly to Manila in time for POC General Assembly meetings and other important appointments, was upset at the selfishness of those stubbornly clinging to their posts to the detriment of sports in general.

What ultimately caused Vargas’s resignation in the first place? According to various sources, there were unresolved issues on both sides. The opposition who had helped Vargas come to power allegedly made it almost impossible for him to function, and resented his forming the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) without going through the board. This was a major sticking point that eventually tore the temporary alliance apart. Neither side was satisfied with the explanation of the other.

Upon his resignation, those close to Vargas implied that those who controlled the POC board were after full control of the billions of pesos in funds for November’s SEA Games. They allegedly wanted Vargas to cut ties with his old allies both inside and outside of the POC. Needless to say, Vargas refused.

On the other hand, the opposition was looking into procurements for the SEA Games that they discovered to be overpriced. Fingers were being pointed. Both groups tried to move outside each other’s circle of influence. Since he assumed office, Vargas, boxing’s president, rejected all entreaties from self-appointed emissaries to play along with the politicians who sought to control POC power and resources, and maintain all the perks they used to have under the past administration.

The fear now is that any election may be rendered moot and pointless. If, for example, the same people end up controlling the board, and a Vargas ally ends up president, the same deadlock will ensue. The presidency will be held hostage.

What nobody realizes is that there is a possibility that Malacañang might step in to save any potential embarrassment for the country in case of any incompetence in organizing the SEA Games. President Duterte, known to be intolerant of both politicking and corruption, could just order the Philippine Sports Commission to do everything, instead. Since the government is paying for the new sports complex in Clark and salaries of those involved, this is a distinct possibility. And regardless of how loudly anyone in POC protests, there isn’t much they could do about it.

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