NSAs up in arms against Buhain

A group of NSA (national sports association) presidents has come up with a strongly-worded petition paper addressed to President Arroyo and demanding the ouster of Eric Buhain as chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

"This is to express our discontent and lack of confidence on the present leadership of chairman Eric Buhain of the PSC," their letter said.

"Based on sad experience with regard to that lack of concern and support the PSC has given to the training of the national athletes and activities of the NSAs, we seriously question his wisdom and ability to lead RP sports especially in this time that we are preparing for the 2005 SEA Games.

"The PSC has been grossly mismanaged. His (Buhain’s) continued presence undermines your good intention to build a strong republic," it added.

The petition paper dated Jan. 14 reportedly has the signatures of 16 NSA heads although it has yet to reach Malacañang.

A reliable source, however, could only confirm the signatures of nine NSA heads.

They are Chito Ilagan of swimming, Rey Jaylo of judo, Claudio Altura of yachting, Benjie Ramos of rowing, Noel Buenaventura of gymnastics, Vic Valbuena of table tennis, Richard Gomez of fencing, Luciano Lim of bodybuilding and Dr. Sim Chi Tat of canoeing.

The NSA head, the source added, met last Jan. 4 at the Dusit Hotel in Makati City to draft the petition paper.

Steve Hontiveros of bowling, who is FIQ president, and Celso Dayrit of fencing, who is Philippine Olympic Committee president, showed up late during the meeting although they didn’t sign the petition paper, a copy of which being in the hands of the same source.

A representative of Muay Thai has also reportedly affixed his signature on the petition paper.

A PSC official who spoke on behalf of Buhain simply laughed off the petition paper.

"Who are these NSA heads? Are they the ones whose athletes are giving honors to the country?" he said, saying that among the NSAs that joined the petition, only fencing delivered in the recent Vietnam SEA Games with four gold medals.

"Now we heard that they are trying to lure the bigger NSAs. And they seem to be having a very difficult time doing that," said the PSC official.

Among the "more popular" NSA president who have refused to sign the petition paper were wushu’s Julian Camacho, boxing’s Manny Lopez, basketball’s Tiny Literal, tennis’ Buddy Andrada, taekwondo’s Robert Aventajado, weightlifting’s Rep. Monico Puentevella, and athletic’s Go Teng Kok.

Of the 40 NSAs, only 36 have voting powers.

Those who’ve already signed the petition paper are reportedly moving heaven and earth courting Go, the controversial and yet powerful sports figure who enjoys the support of at least 10 other NSA presidents.

The "rebel group" was reportedly fed up with the kind of support they’ve been getting from the PSC, including a delay in the release of their financial assistance or the allowances and training equipment of their athletes and coaches.

The PSC, insiders said, has incurred a huge budget deficit of P80 million last year, leaving the NSAs with millions in receivables and reimbursements from the government sports agency.

The petition paper has yet to reach Malacañang.