NCFP gets PSC nod on funding

The Philippine Sports Commission Board of Commissioners, after consulting with the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, approved yesterday the P700,000 budget to be used by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines in next week’s World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.

PSC chairman Carlos Tuason said they consulted with the OGCC late in the afternoon yesterday as a precaution against possible legal action the Philippine Chess Federation might take against them.

"The PSC board has approved the budget to be used by NCFP in Istanbul (Oct. 27-Nov. 12) but we have to consult with our lawyers first because the PCF sent us this afternoon a petition which we don’t fully understand so we asked for the OGCC’s advice," said Tuason, who met with Grandmaster Buenaventura Villamayor, one of the NCFP’s vice presidents, and NCFP legal counsel Sammy Estimo.

However, the PCF earlier filed a Temporary Retraining Order at the Makati Regional Trial Court stopping the PSC from releasing the funds. But Estimo said a TRO has not been issued. A hearing has been set tomorrow.

"The money is ready. It will take probably a day or two to release it, but it’s really there," Tuason said.

Tuason said the amount, which is 70 percent of the budget for chess this year – with the other 30 percent already used by the PCF in the Asian Zonals last June – will be used for airfares, board and lodging and allowances of the RP team members and officials.