MANILA, Philippines?A veteran scribe, who once again invoked anonymity, wrote in to report on the recently-concluded National Open Track and Field Championships at the Rizal Memorial.

Describing the event as ?very dreary,? the scribe said the lack of funding was evident, considering that the entry fee was pegged at P350 per person, with no meals being offered.

?Only teams willing to join and pay the fees competed,? he said. ?There were no awarding ceremonies, and people waited in vain for some closing ceremonies last Saturday, but after the last event of the day, people just filed out of the stadium.?

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According to the scribe, Patafa officials stated that economic difficulties have started to bite Go Teng Kok, the athletics chief of almost 18 years.

?I suppose this is the reason why GTK is reportedly looking for a successor, now that he is Philippine Karatedo Association president.?

?But who can fit the bill? Don?t you think it?s time for Terry Capistrano to set his sights on the sport he really loves? Terry?s TMS Shipping Agencies, buoyed by top national athletes, won the overall title in the National Open.?

Terry was team manager of the De La Salle Green Archers some years back and still continues to support the team until today. He was a decathlete in his college days and according to our scribe-friend, it is no secret that he has been helping the tracksters behind the scenes.

?In 2007 he helped send two La Salle track stars abroad to train under a Fil-Am coach. They broke the only three Philippine records notched that year.?

The question the scribe asks: Will Capistrano have the time, and more importantly, the foresight to remove sycophants, who had deluded GTK last year that all was well until the national team fared badly in Bangkok?

?Only the boxing walkout and several poor performances of other national squads kept the athletic debacle out of the limelight in the SEA Games,? he said.

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For GTK, even if the gold medal haul for Patafa was down from nine to five gold medals in last year?s SEA Games, he considers the performance of his athletes exemplary, considering the obstacles they had to hurdle.

?A highly influential PSC commissioner want me out of the Patafa and he figures that the best way to do this is to cut the association?s funding from the PSC.

?Without money, we would be totally incapable of accomplishing anything. He succeeded. The PSC withdrew its financial support right after the Manila Southeast Asian Games where we won nine gold medals. But at least we still managed to bring home five golds despite the lack of funding,? explained GTK.

Training equipment, he said, arrived a week before competition, and the athletes? shoes, a day before departure for the SEAG venue.

?The athletes had a hard time because the shoes didn?t have time to be broken in. Yung mga equipment, kinakalawang na.?

It is true, he has been looking for a capable successor, and would gladly step down when he finds the right man to replace him.

?Matagal na ?kong naghahanap, wala pa lang makita.?

He is only holding his position in karatedo on an interim basis, and as a favor to the former head of the association Eddie Ponce who is his friend, he said.

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HOOPVINE: According to late-breaking reports, Ilocos Norte governor Michael Keon is being groomed to replace GTK? However, there are also reports that certain quarters who have an axe to grind against Keon won?t allow this to happen? Abet and Maridol Guidaben carried the Philippine flag while Abe and Ligaya King hoisted the US flag during the Philippine Independence Day parade held in New York last June 1. A total of 14 blocks were closed for the event? Coach Bong Ramos texted from Jakarta, Indonesia to inform me of the good news that he has received several offers to coach, from three Jakarta club teams and one from Surabaya. Bong has coached in Indonesia before? Mikee Romero strongly suggests that I write the life story of Harbour Centre cager Solomon Mercado, a Filipino-Puerto Rican who will be in the PBA amateur pool this August. ?Solomon is a reformed gangster. He is now a Christian,? Mikee said. Couldn?t figure out if he was joking or serious?