Warring cycling leaders form team

Manila, Philippines - Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and former Philippine Sports Commission chair Philip Ella Juico are setting aside their personal differences to form a team for the 26th Southeast Asian Games slated Nov. 11-25 in Palembang and Jakarta, Indonesia.

Tolentino and Juico had actually agreed to form a unified cycling team under the direct management of Philippine Olympic Committe president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. with hopes of a smooth, distraction-free preparation by the national cyclists seeking to medal in the biennial event.

“So far, so good. Our national athletels are training and preparing well for the SEA Games,” said Tolentino, one of the two claimants of the cycling leadership.

“The cycling issue will be decided only after the SEA Games because our goal here is to let our national cyclists train without distractions,” Juico, the head of the other cycling group, said.

Cycling is one of the problematic national sports associations after the POC remained undecided on who should run the association.

Unlike in cycling, a potential gold mine in the SEA Games, the POC has recently decided to recognize the leadership of Enrico Vasquez of another troubled NSA–the Phl Karatedo Federation.

The POC also recognized police general Lucas Managuelod and Harbour Centre owner Mikee Romero as muay thai and shooting chiefs, respectively.

Although the elections in muay thai and shooting are orderly and peaceful, it can be said the same on karatedo, which held its election despite an ongoing court case filed by Go Teng Kok, the other claimant of the karatedo leadership, at the Pasig Regional Trial Court.

Vasquez’s group is also under a hail of criticisms after it named a 37-player pool that was without several national team standouts headed by Marna Pabillore, a two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and Asian Games silver medal winner.