PSC panel to sort out plaints, disputes

PSC Chair William Ramirez. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

NATIONAL athletes now have a shoulder to cry on with the formation of a Philippine Sports Commission grievance committee to sort out conflicts.

PSC Chair William Ramirez said the committee, to be headed by lawyer Francis Romulo Padilla Jr., would hear out complaints from athletes, coaches and officials, and act as mediator in disputes involving warring factions in national sports associations (NSAs).

“We felt there’s a need to create such a committee because we’ve been receiving various complaints ever since we took over,” said Ramirez.

Commission officials said they heard various gripes from NSAs that participated in the recent consultative meetings organized by the PSC to craft the master plan for the Philippine Sports Institute.

“The committee will study the complaints of the athletes and the officials,” said Ramirez. “If they don’t want to settle the problem among themselves, we will withdraw the PSC’s support.”

The committee is expected to take up the case of marathoner Mary Joy Tabal, who again left the national team after seeing action in the recent 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The panel will also mediate in the turf war at the Philippine Lawn Tennis Association between former PSC commissioner Salvador Andrada and Philta vice president Randy Villanueva.