Nothing’s final on Patafa polls

THE LATEST report on Philippine Amateur and Track and Field Association (Patafa) president Go Teng Kok relayed by sporting associates who  visited him some days ago  didn’t sound too good.

The  group said they saw the  Patafa head in  a meeting with a high-profile politician and he looked extremely  pale and weak. He walked aided by a cane and a personal  nurse.

“GTK looks very sick,” said one of them. “In his condition, I’d say he just  suffered  a heart attack or a stroke.  He can hardly walk.”

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GTK has been unheard of for months   since his long, on-and-off confinement in a hospital for treatment  of  a strange infection that was attacking various parts of his body.

Because of his health condition, it was former Philippine Sports Commission chair Philip Ella Juico who acted as head of the athletics delegation in the recent  Burma (Myanmar) Southeast Asian Games where the Philippine tracksters won six gold,  three silver  and four bronze medals. This fueled speculations that he would soon be replacing Go, who has served Patafa for two decades.

Surprisingly, a call came from GTK a day before New Year’s eve. He said he had just called a press conference earlier that day where he announced  that he would be stepping down from his post because of poor health.

Elections will be held in February 2014, according to him, but his plans are not really final.

“It will all depend on my state of health,” he said. ” If my health gets better,  I’d like to stay on.”

Perhaps the six golds won in the SEAG—the most by  an NSA in the biennial meet—is what  keeps GTK from letting go of his post.

“I could not recover completely from my ailment because my doctors could not completely eradicate  the microbes causing the infections in my body. When one part is healed, another infection erupts.”

So far, that was GTK’s last word to the Inquirer  after he called a press conference. If he is healthy by February, he would stay on as Patafa president.  If it continues to deteriorate,  he would step down  and stay out.

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HOOPVINE: Theirs was only one of several high-profile breakups that occurred  in the year past.  He is a popular athlete, she is  a movie actress. They never disclosed the reason for the split, just that they continue to be good friends. Well very recently,  a colleague from the entertainment industry let the cat out of the bag. It was the athlete who made a 180-degree turn, he said. “He couldn’t afford her anymore. Masyadong high maintenance,” our colleague said…….Ateneo head coach Bo Perasol’s  plan for  2014 is to assemble  all of Ateneo’s potential  recruits  at the earliest time possible, “and then to train them and compete together.” In other words, Perasol intends  to prepare  for the  2014 UAAP wars early.