POC striking bowling?

Tomorrow, the Philippine Bowling Congress will have its election of officers at the Philippine Sports Commission bowling center. And it will happen without the recognition of the Philippine Olympic Committee.

A month ago, on Dec. 17, the Philippine Bowling Congress sent a letter to the POC requesting for a POC observer at the elections. The POC was supposed to respond within 15 calendar days, as per one of its own resolutions dated Jan. 24, 2007.

Instead, on Jan. 14, the POC, through its deputy secretary-general, swimming’s Mark Joseph, sent a letter declining and instructing the postponement of the elections because “On the basis of documents received by the POC, we are aware that there is an intra-NSA dispute regarding the membership of the PBC.” PBC president Steve Hontiveros, who is the POC secretary-general, did not sign the letter. Other PBC officers found this curious. Hontiveros defended his position.

“I am not involved in any membership issues,” said Hontiveros, who is no longer running for any PBC post. “After my angioplasty, I wanted to take a break. I’ve left bowling before, but was often asked to come back to help the sport.”

“There is no problem with the membership of the PBC,” asserts four-time world champion and PBC secretary-general Bong Coo. “Any issues with regards to voting have been cleared up.”

Sept. 30 of last year was the deadline for membership dues. At the PBC board meeting on Sept. 28 presided by PBC vice-president Jaime Dychauco, it was agreed that the deadline would be extended for the Pasig Bowling Association (PBA), the lone club of PBC’s 21 member clubs which had not yet paid its dues of P100 per member. PBC president Steve Hontiveros was absent from that meeting.

On Oct. 7, the day of the new deadline, PBA suddenly submitted a list of 1,115 members, and P115,000 in membership fees. For every 20 members, a member club is entitled to one voting delegate.

However, at the regular PBC meeting on Oct. 31, Hontiveros said that the decision to extend the membership deadline was invalid, since it was against PBC rules and protected against padding membership and illegitimately gaining inordinately large numbers of voting delegates.

Also at that meeting, the question of what would happen to the P115,000 was raised. It was at that point that Nelia Santos, representative of the PBA, admitted that they only have 115 members, and that PBA president Philip Rillorta was merely pressured into accepting the list of new members and the money to pay for them.

“It was a list of PLDT employees,” says Jojo Ventura, head of the PBC tournament committee. “And how can they be active members of Pasig, when some of them are from Sulu and other far-flung places in Mindanao?”

According to minutes of that PBC meeting signed by Coo and obtained by The STAR, Santos claims that a Philippine Olympic Committee official sent them the list and the money, in order to gain control of the PBC.

But Hontiveros argues that, even if these things are being done to protect certain parties in the POC, they won’t make a difference.

“Even if I am no longer president of PBC, I will still be POC secretary-general for the next four years, because I got the position when I was still head of that NSA,” Hontiveros explains, adding that this situation has had many precedents.

The PBC contends that the remaining issue now is whether or not the association should return the excess P100,000 to the Pasig Bowling Association. PBC has reinstated PBA’s old members and granted them five voting delegates to tomorrow’s election, but is inclined not to return the money.

“That is no longer a memberships issue,” Coo clarifies. “That is an accounting issue.”

So tomorrow, the PBC will hold its elections as mandated by its constitution, with or without POC recognition. What happens next is anyone’s guess.