Manila Polo Club feud

The Defenders : Polo Club financial health restored, says president

The financial hemorrhage experienced the Manila Polo Club last year has been reversed this year.

MPC attained an operating profit before depreciation, which is a non-cash item of P5 million.

The club ended the year with a cash balance of P134 million.

The financial performance of the club this year made unnecessary an increase in membership dues.

This was announced by president Policarpo Ascalon based on the audited financial statements for fiscal year 2001-2002 released by Joaquin Cunanan PricewaterHouse.

"A balanced budget," said Ascalon, "is attainable by the end of the coming fiscal year."

There was a P23-million or 67-percent reduction in the deficit of the operating account bottom line, inclusive of depreciation charge.

The loss in F&B operations was reduced by P3 million or 26 percent due to the outsourcing of the service in March. The outsourcing project, specifically the turnover of the food and beverage operations to a concessionaire, reversed losses of P10 million a year and instead guaranteed a minimum yearly fee income of P12 million for a P22-million impact on the Club’s bottom line on an annualized basis. The club started receiving the P1-million monthly minimum concession fee in April.

The loss in sports and games operations was reduced by P4 million or 69 percent. Inclusive of polo and locker operations, the total was reduced by 27 percent.

Inclusive of the P16.6-million depreciation charge and P800,000 tax provision, the bottom line of all accounts was a P16-million deficit.

Exclusive of associate members’ fees and extraordinary items, there was a 49 percent or P23.6-million reduction in the deficit of the bottom line.

Significantly, P19 million was recovered from previously locked in funds with the closed Urban Bank. These funds are now in T-bills with BPI.

Behind the dramatic turnaround of the club is a package of reform measures instituted early this year by the incumbent board to nurture MPC back to fiscal health.

The measures included restructuring the organization which resulted in annualized savings of P11 million.

Cost containment programs yielded annualized savings amounting to P7 million.

The Reformers : Reformers urge end to rule by Polo Club power clique

The reform group contesting the leadership of the Manila Polo Club has deplored the rule by a clique of club members that has dominated the club for years, controlled its annual elections, and singlehandedly brought the club down to it current deficit status.

The Good Governance Team – composed of business leaders Roman Azanza Jr., Isabel Caro-Wilson, Jose Cuisia Jr., Roberto Romulo and Jesus Tambunting – described as a curse on the Club "the musical chair politics" practiced by the clique, which ostensibly alternates different persons in the club presidency but in reality preserves itself in power.

Through this tactic of fielding designated surrogates, the clique has managed to control all decision making and management of club finances for years. Besides the presidency, it has controlled the treasury, the vice-presidential posts and vital committees. And nothing ever changes in the way the MPC is run.

The reform group warned that the same game is again unfolding in the run-up to the membership meeting and elections on Aug. 26 when five of nine board seats go up for grabs. The current board, which is under heavy criticism from club members for mismanagement of the club, has fielded a slate of candidates who have served in the board at one time or another. Two ticket members are past presidents of the club.

This year, the clique has picked Rene Concepcion, first vice president of the club and perennial director, as its bet for the club presidency.

A succession of MPC boards, including the present board, are responsible for the orgy of remodeling and construction at the Manila Polo Club that has defaced its historical landmarks, built townhouses on the club site, and driven its finances to the ground.

"The charade has gone far enough," said Jun Campillo, long-time club member and campaign manager of the GG Team. "We must expunge this virus of musical chair politics which has infected the bloodstream of the Manila Polo Club and threatens its very future."

The club has proved vulnerable to the machinations of the clique because of the high number of inactive members in its ranks. Whenever election time comes, proxies are collected from them by the clique, which it then uses to control annual membership meetings and elections.

To ensure fair play in the Aug. 26 elections, 115 concerned club members filed a petition with the MPC board last Aug. 1 requesting for a complete list of MPC voting members and a fixed date for the validation of proxies. But this was turned down by the current MPC board led by its president Policarpo Ascalon.