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THE Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) yesterday said it sees
no opposition from among its members to the Basketball
Association of the Philippines-Samahang Basketbol ng
Pilipinas (BAP-SBP) becoming the new federation for the
sport in the country.
“For the sake of basketball-loving Filipinos, we will have
smooth sailing tomorrow [Friday],” said POC first vice
president and Bacolod City Rep. Monico Puentevella,
referring to the Olympic body’s special general assembly
meeting today in
Makati
City.
Puentevella made the statement after emerging from the POC
executive board’s meeting at the Philippine Columbian
Association in Paco,
Manila.
The board approved the recommendation of the
Bacolod
lawmaker, who chairs the POC membership committee, to
give the BAP-SBP temporary acceptance into the umbrella
body for national sports associations (NSAs) in the
country.
Puentevella said he would sponsor a motion today for the POC
general assembly—the Olympic body’s 38 member NSAs—to
give conditional recognition to the Samahan until the
International Basketball Federation, or Fiba, officially
recognizes it as its affiliate in the country.
A favorable vote from a majority of POC members, or 20 NSA
representatives, is enough to ratify the action of the
executive board.
“Once recognition from Fiba comes back to POC, that’s when
the accreditation will be officially given to BAP-SBP,”
Puentevella, a former sports commissioner added.
POC rules dictate that a national sports association must be
a recognized member of an international federation (IF)
of its sport before it becomes a part of the local
Olympic family.
When asked what the POC would do if someone does oppose the
Samahan’s application, Puentevella said: “That’s my
question also. If there is one, we’ll cross the bridge
when we get there, but I hope no one does.”
He also said that the Philippine Basketball Federation Inc.,
the incumbent NSA for the sport recognized by the POC,
will write a letter expressing its voluntary withdrawal
from the Olympic body, giving way to the BAP-SBP.
POC president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr., who presided over
the executive board meeting, said the BAP-SBP also had a
minor wrinkle—its registered name with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC)—to resolve before it could
become a full-fledged member of the Olympic body.
“There’s a letter that we received [from the Samahan] that we
cannot approve the BAP-SBP, because that is not the
registered name, so that [name] will have to be approved
conditionally,” he said.
The executive board is giving the Samahan its blessing,
Cojuangco said, as long as it could assure that it is an
entirely new organization apart from the old BAP.
“We’re also requiring [BAP-SBP] that the conditions of its
constitution and articles of incorporation be fully
complied with,” added the former lawmaker from Tarlac.
“Once the IF accepts them, then the IF will communicate with
us, telling us that they are recognizing BAP-SBP as the
new federation to represent the Philippines sa Fiba.
Then and only then should we officially recognize them
already,” Puentevella added.
The PBFI is one of the so-called basketball stakeholders that
merged into the Samahan, which is taking over from the
old BAP—the product of a tedious unification process
that ended with a congress earlier this month.
Meanwhile, a five-man BAP-SBP committee chaired by Philippine
Basketball League commissioner Chino Trinidad continued
its search for a coach for the national team, which
would compete as soon as Fiba lifts its indefinite
suspension on the country.
Trinidad’s committee, which includes Samahan trustees
Lito Alvarez, Jun-Jun Capistrano, Christian Tan and
Wilson Young, met with incumbent national coach Chot
Reyes, who briefed them on his program for the RP five.
The group hopes to talk to other coaching candidates, then
pick the one who would give the national team in the
coming Southeast Asia Basketball Association (Seaba) and
the Fiba-Asia championships.
“We hope to come up with a decision before the weekend. We
are taking into account the proximity of the [Seaba]
event, that’s why we’re sort of speeding this along,”
said Capistrano.
*****
POC and
PSC keeping the ‘love’ alive
TAKING advantage of their current harmonious relationship,
the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and Philippine
Sports Commission (PSC) will hold a joint executive
board meeting on Monday to put how they should interact
on paper.
POC president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. disclosed this
yesterday, saying it was time top officials of the
Olympic body and the government sports agency set
guidelines on how they could work better together, now
and in the future.
“What we’re trying to do is to establish these guidelines
para continuous na ang work between PSC-POC,” Cojuangco
said.
He admitted that discussions about the conference with the
PSC’s five-man board took up most of the time of the POC
executive board meeting at the Philippine Columbian
Association in Paco,
Manila.
“We can only do that now because there’s no animosity
[between the two groups]. Best thing to do it now when
everybody has an open mind, discuss this and come up
with guidelines,” the POC chief said.
PSC chairman William Ramirez heads the sports agency’s board,
which includes commissioners Richie Garcia, Leonardo
Montemayor, Jose Mundo and Ambrosio de Luna.
Meanwhile, Cojuangco announced the creation of the POC’s
ethics and arbitration committees to handle disputes
between and among the Olympic body’s member national
sports associations.
Shooting association president Art Macapagal will chair the
ethics committee, while former lawmaker Victorico Chavez
heads the arbitration body.
Chavez is also a member of the ethics committee along with
Frank Elizalde, the International Olympic Committee
representative to the country, plus former Cabinet
secretary Jun Factoran and former governor Chippy
Espiritu, the POC chief said.
Elizalde, Chavez and Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol”
Tolentino will form the arbitration committee—which
could have the ongoing power struggle in the Table
Tennis Association of the
Philippines as its first big case. Jimbo Gulle |
