Aguilar elected WAP head; rival group protests polls

MANILA, Philippines - Mixed martial arts practitioner Alvin Aguilar was elected president of the Wrestling Association of the Philippines in the last May 12 polls at the BMAP MMA Center in Parañaque.

Others voted into office were Leonides Virata (vice president), Buhay Partylist Rep. Irwin Tieng (treasurer), Paolo Saycon (auditor) and former national wrestler Marcus Valda (secretary-general).

POC secretary-general Steve Hontiveros signed the election result that was upheld by the Philippine Olympic Committee.

Aguilar’s leadership, however, could face opposition from the former group headed by WAP chairman Aries Supremo, who is threatening to seek injunction from the Manila Regional Trial Court. 

“We don’t know why the POC gave them (Aguilar’s group) recognition when we didn’t even call for a special elections,” Supremo told mediamen during yesterday’s Sports Science seminar by the Philippine Sports Commission at the Philsports Arena in San Juan City.

Supremo’s group is composed of Juan Balda (president), Ernesto Cruz Jr. (VP-Personnel), Jasmine de Guzman (VP-Logistics), Juan Miguel de Guzman (VP-Operations) and Peter Lawrence Meimban (VP-Research and Dev’t.).

Aguilar was one of the founding fathers of Brazilian jiu-jitsu body in the country and formed the Universal Reality Combat Championship, now considered as the top mixed martial arts fight outfit in the country today.

With him at the helm, Aguilar could lure top MMA fighters to represent the country in wrestling in top international competitions like the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games.

One notable MMA fighter, Pacific X-Treme Combat champion Mark Streigl, might have sealed a spot in the national team after competing and eventually winning a wrestling gold in last week’s Phl National Games.