Cristy’s turn to seek Dayrit’s ouster

Former Philippine Olympic Committee president Cristy Ramos once again came out in the open yesterday, this time to accuse current POC head Celso Dayrit of putting too much politics in sports and leading the country to a couple of embarassing defeats in the international sports arena.

The last time the former presidential daughter broke her silence on issues involving local sports was when she joined disgruntled national athletes in a protest march to Malacañang where they aired their grievances against the Philippine Sports Commission and sought the ouster of its chairman Carlos Tuason to no avail.

In a press conference arranged by the controversial Go Teng Kok of athletics, the feisty Ramos, who was ousted as POC president in 1999 by a popular revolt ironically led by Dayrit and Go themselves, said it’s about time that the various national sports associations and their athletes seek the ouster of Dayrit.

"We can’t wait until after the SEA Games this September. We must deal with the problem now and the problem is Dayrit himself. Puro siya pa-pogi, pa-cute at pa-kita. Based on performance alone, wala siyang naipakita and yet nobody is criticizing him," said Ramos, who also recently expressed her desire to once again serve Philippine sports.

Ramos said it was the manner that Dayrit assumed power that has plagued his leadership. "We already foresaw what was going to happen. Pero kung nakapaghintay lang siya ng kaunti noon, things would have been smoother, and it is now that the POC and the PSC are encountering the biggest problems," she said.

Ramos pointed to the country’s dismal performances in the 1999 Brunei SEA Games and the 2000 Sydney Olympics as a "blatant sign" of how the top sports leaders in the country are running the show. "Under my term, there were medals won and yet they kept on criticizing me. Performance-wise, you can see the difference."

Ramos added that in the past, problems involving local sports are simply being inherited by one administration from another, unlike at present where problems — new ones and bigger at that — are being created, therefore leading to the country’s poor performance in international competitions.