Smooth or rough sailing in POC?

What the POC Executive Board attempted to resolve but ran out of time to settle in a Zoom meeting last Monday will be tackled in a continuation of the video conference at 9 this morning. It could be smooth or rough sailing in trying to get approval for several amendments in the POC Constitution and By-Laws with the age cap for elective positions in the Executive Board the thorniest issue.

The key is to garner a 2/3 vote of those attending the meeting. It is also required that at least 2/3 of the voters are present. POC president Rep. Bambol Tolentino said there are 13 voting members in the Executive Board – himself, first vice president Joey Romasanta, second vice president Jeff Tamayo, secretary-general Edwin Gastanes, treasurer Julian Camacho, auditor Jonne Go, IOC representative Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Athletes Commission representative Nikko Huelgas, immediate past president Ricky Vargas and board members Clint Aranas, Cynthia Carrion, Rep. Butch Pichay and Robert Mananquil. POC chairman Steve Hontiveros casts a vote only to break a tie. If all 13 voters are accounted for, there is no possibility of a tie. But if a voter is absent, then it will be down to 12 voters, raising the possibility of a tie which the chairman could break.

Tolentino said the Technical Working Group (TWG) and the Committee on Constitutional Amendments worked hard to put the issues on the table. The TWG is composed of three lawyers led by Atty. Al Agra and the Committee is headed by Vargas. “The Monday meeting went well but will require another meeting to wrap up,” said Vargas. “I’m confident the Executive Board will pass a new Constitution. I’m hoping it will be smooth sailing. But Clint (Aranas), the spokesperson of a group of seven, raised legitimate issues, concerns and suggestions up for discussion. This is how it works in a highly-political and partisan environment but all for the good of the POC. The TWG and the Committee have done their job. It’s now in the hands of the Executive Board. In the end, if the Board can’t agree, the General Assembly decides. Still, I’m hoping the Board finds common grounds to reach an agreement.”

Tolentino said the option of submitting the amendments for approval by the General Assembly is open if there is a stalemate in the Board. He clarified that the age limit proposal will apply only to those aspiring for positions in the Board. Positions in NSAs are not covered by an age limit. For the record, the age rule in the IOC is as follows: “The age limit fixed is 70 years old, except for members co-opted between 1966 and 1999 for whom the age limit is 80. The Session may, on the proposal of the IOC Executive Board, extend the age limit for any IOC member for a period of a four-year maximum.” In today’s discussion, a possible compromise is to set an age limit based on when a member joined the POC.

Philippine Squash Academy president Bob Bachmann said the IOC has never imposed an age limit on National Olympic Committee affiliates. “The IOC age limit was not implemented immediately,” he said. “If you joined the IOC in the 1900s, then the age limit applied is 80. Those who joined the IOC in the 2000s, the applied age limit is 70.” Bachmann said there is also a proposed amendment on the composition of the Board. The TWG has proposed to increase the membership to 15, adding one Board member and a representative of the private sector. Aranas’ group is also proposing 15, including two more Board members but excluding the immediate past president and a private sector representative. Of the 15 proposed by the TWG, two Board members may represent a non-Olympic sport and the private sector outsider will not be affiliated with any sport. In Aranas’ proposal, four Board members may represent a non-Olympic sport.

Former POC legal counsel Atty. Victor Africa said he hopes that in the Board deliberations, someone could suggest the verbalization of a sports philosophy in the POC preamble. “POC has to decide what its philosophy is,” he said. “Olympism or something else? It’s a difficult question because it may be idealism versus realism or pragmatism. Plus, POC should relate it to the national philosophy on sports which also has to be verbalized. There can already be a statement in the preamble, that basically is a commitment of fealty to that philosophy and an undertaking to instill it in the minds and hearts of everyone in the organization and a covenant to disseminate and exhibit it through their words, programs and example.”