INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines?Athletes Marcus Valda and Robertson Tubosa have filed criminal charges for alleged appropriation of allowances against Wrestling Association of the Philippines chairman Manuel Espejo and former WAP president Vincent Piccio III, it was learned Monday.

In his complaint-affidavit, Valda, who was a three-time South East Asian Games gold medalist, alleged that he was duped into giving Espejo P55,000 of his P70,000 allowance from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) intended for his expenses for the 2006 World Wrestling Championships in Guangzhou, China.

Valda said Espejo told him that the money would be used to pay for his board and lodging, which Valda discovered were already shouldered by the PSC.

The same modus operandi was reportedly employed to victimize seven of his other fellow athletes.

On his complaint-affidavit, Tubosa alleged that right after the Asian Junior Championship held in Manila in June 2007, Piccio allegedly took away and collected from him and other athletes their wrestling uniforms, including the shoes donated by the South Korean Wrestling Federation to the Philippine Junior Wrestling Team.

They were never able see or use these uniforms again.

Worse, added Tubosa, during the 2008 Qatar Asian Junior Championships, he and other fellow junior athletes were allegedly made to wear substandard uniforms that obviously came from ukay-ukay or thrift shops despite supplies and budget for each competition being duly provided for by the PSC.

Espejo and Piccio were the officers who had the custody and responsibility over the funds and properties of WAP, the National Sports Association for wrestling.

At the same time, their lawyer, Kit Belmonte, said the filing of the charges is meant to protect their rights, as well as their fellow athletes.

?There may be a need for legislative reforms especially in relation to the nature of the National Sports Associations such as WAP. NSAs are allocated budget from the national treasury through the Philippine Sports Commission. Hence, stricter guidelines in the handling of funds should be put in place to protect the misuse and abuse of these public funds by NSA officials,? he said.

NSAs are private, non-profit organizations recognized as governing bodies in their respective sports. They are exclusively responsible for participation of athletes in various competitions.