POC warns erring NSAs of gov’t audit

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) first vice president Joey Romasanta yesterday issued a strong warning to National Sports Associations (NSAs) to get their act together or else risk disenfranchisement as the Commission on Audit (COA) has questioned the legitimacy of unresponsive organizations to secure financial assistance in a memorandum to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Romasanta said the COA is looking into PSC disbursements of P202 Million as of last September and investigating whether NSAs are properly registered to receive subsidies. “We’re quite anxious about this,” said Romasanta. “We are wondering what time frame is involved in the audit and which NSAs are accountable. There is mention of 53 NSAs but only 40 regular NSAs are qualified to receive financial assistance from the PSC. The five associate and five recognized NSAs are not eligible.”

While the POC and PSC are conferring on how to deal with the COA memorandum, Romasanta said NSAs with unliquidated accounts and pending legal obligations must settle their issues now. “We are aware that some NSAs have held elections without POC sanction,” he said. “Obviously, the POC cannot recognize any election held by an NSA without its sanction. We are urging every NSA to review its Constitution and By-Laws because there are certain mandatory provisions now being required by the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Our POC lawyer is available to discuss these provisions with NSAs.”

Romasanta said the POC is determined to straighten out NSAs that are encountering leadership and other problems. Last week, the POC abolished the NSA for volleyball, the Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF), and formed a five-man committee to take over its functions, including the formation of the national team that will compete at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Singapore next year.

“The PVF has become dysfunctional,” said Romasanta. “It wasn’t only the POC that took exception but also the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC). The five-man committee will draft a new Constitution and By-Laws to conform to the provisions of the IOC, AVC and POC.”

Romasanta said the POC may also take over the NSA for swimming. “We’ve been asked by the SEA Games organizers to submit our entries by name but swimming informed us that it has a lineup of about 90. Where are the names? We don’t want the SEA Games organizers to think we’re not prepared. It’s the same problem with some other NSAs. If they can’t do their job, the POC will take over.”

Romasanta also cited the case of the NSA for squash, the Squash Rackets Association of the Philippines (SRAP). “We understand the SRAP held elections but no POC official witnessed the conduct so there is no POC recognition of the elected officers,” said Romasanta. “My advice is for the SRAP lawyer to contact the POC lawyer to review the SRAP Constitution and By-Laws and make sure there is conformity with the provisions of the IOC and POC. I also suggest that the SRAP schedule an election of officers with POC recognition. This process should be undertaken by every NSA.”

Romasanta said the POC’s proactive approach is in line with what IOC president Thomas Bach is initiating on the world-wide level. Bach pushed for radical reforms to make the Olympics more relevant during the IOC extraordinary session in Monaco last Monday. Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, the Philippine representative in the IOC, said the developments are “all really exciting.” Among the reforms are to make the bidding to host the Olympics easier and less expensive, to allow joint bids and to increase the sports in the Olympic calendar.

“The ANOC held a meeting in Thailand last month and Mr. Bach attended,” said Romasanta. “Mr. Bach made special mention of Mikee’s excellent performance in the IOC. We understand that the IOC is leaning towards more sports but less events in future Olympics while keeping the cap of participating athletes to 10,500. On the SEA Games level, we are trying to strike out sports that mainly favor the host country and are unfamiliar to most other countries but with the new IOC approach, we don’t know if our goal is still relevant. It’s something that must be taken up soon.”

On the volleyball front, newly-elected PVF chairman Edgardo (Boy) Cantada said he will support whatever the POC decides to be in the sport’s best interests. “The PVF has not held a Board meeting since May 2013 so the majority of the Board went ahead to call a special meeting last Nov. 23,” said Cantada. “There were positions to be filled. When PVF president Gener Dungo went on indefinite leave, vice president Karl Chan took over his position last year. But the positions of vice president and treasurer were vacant. An insertion was made to name Rustico Camangian as secretary-general but this was not taken up by the Board. So, in our special meeting, we held an election to fill the vacant positions. The new set of officers will serve only until February next year when the General Assembly holds elections as provided by the Constitution and By-Laws.” The PVF’s disenfranchisement as an NSA has made the body irrelevant.

“We serve in volleyball to give not to take,” said Cantada. “We have no personal agenda. I have been promoting and staging beach volleyball tournaments for years at a financial loss. If the POC wants us to be involved in the new NSA for volleyball, we will. I think there is no leadership squabble in volleyball. We only filled up vacant positions in the PVF. My attitude at the moment is wait-and-see.”