Cooperation over control, says Vargas

MANILA, Philippines — Former POC president Ricky Vargas said yesterday it’s a shame if the majority of the Executive Board not aligned with newly-elected president Rep. Bambol Tolentino continues to pursue its goal of control instead of moving forward in the spirit of cooperation.

Tolentino called for an Executive Board meeting last Friday but failed to muster a quorum. Only Tolentino, newly-elected chairman Steve Hontiveros, Vargas as immediate past president, newly-reelected board member Cynthia Carrion and secretary-general Patrick Gregorio attended with IOC honorary member Frank Elizalde as guest. Eight members of the 13-strong Executive Board were no-shows.

Tolentino is calling for another Executive Board meeting at 9:30 this morning in the POC Board Room, hoping for a quorum to approve his new appointments. A general assembly is set at the Diamond Hotel on Aug. 13.

“The General Assembly has spoken,” said Vargas. “New elections were held so let’s respect the mandates and start working together. I thought we were off to a good start after the meeting in Malacañang where we all promised to move on. It was clear and I presume it was accepted by all that for the coming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the PSC would be on top of funding, PHISGOC would host and POC would take care of our athletes. That’s how it was envisioned when I was POC president. I never wanted POC to handle the funding. It’s a workable set-up and the PSC has established controls to make sure disbursements are in order and the money is used for what it’s supposed to be for.”

Vargas remains with the Executive Board as the immediate past POC president although some quarters are disputing his eligibility because he didn’t finish a full four-year term. However, POC counsel Atty. Al Agra said there is no provision in the POC By-Laws stipulating a full term for an immediate past president to be eligible to join the Executive Board. “I’ll continue to serve in the Executive Board until I’m kicked out,” chuckled Vargas. There has been no official move to oust Vargas.

Vargas was recently appointed by Tolentino as chair of the POC Constitutional Amendments Commission with Executive Board member Rep. Butch Pichay, Agra, baseball president Chito Loyzaga, fencing president Richard Gomez and kickboxing president Atty. Wharton Chan as members.

“There’s a lot to be done,” said Vargas who took over the commission chairmanship from former POC president Jose Cojuangco Jr. “We’re studying the possibility of introducing provisions to set an age limit of 70 for POC officials like in the IOC and to limit individuals to serve in only one NSA as officers.”

Vargas also said Tolentino has appointed Gomez as deputy secretary-general in place of sepak takraw NSA president Karen Caballero who is now PHISGOC sports director. Tolentino was previously PHISGOC sports director and has replaced Vargas as PHISGOC co-vice chairman.