PRESIDENT Duterte has instructed the Philippine Sports Commission to “unify sports.”
That’s the marching order given to second-term PSC Chair Butch Ramirez who said he will pay a visit to national sports associations locked in internal battles.
The PSC chief added that he will talk to the Philippine Olympic Committee led by Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr., and work on ways to work “under one organization.”
“The President has instructed me from my first day of assumption of office to unify Philippine sports, meaning the sports associations that are not unified and they have their own problems I plan to visit,” said Ramirez.
Among the NSAs with leadership strife is the Philippine Tennis Association. Ramirez had reportedly met with acting Philta president Randy Villanueva who took over the resigned president Edwin Olivarez.
Instead of following the Philta charter which allows Villanueva’s succession, a group inside the Philta board led by former president Salvador “Buddy” Andrada took over in a “snap elections” last July 29.
Without mentioning Philta, Ramirez said there is a need for NSAs to be governed by the sport’s stakeholders and not just by a small group.
Ramirez reiterated “division of labor” among the PSC, POC and the NSAs.
“We are all partners in the sport, we have our own houses, but all of us are answerable to the athletes,” said Ramirez.