POC President Peping Cojuangco. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Philippine Olympic Committee first vice president Joey Romasanta is confident that POC president Peping Cojuangco and Philippine Sports Commission chair Butch Ramirez will set aside their differences and work for a common objective.
Trouble started brewing when Cojuangco blasted PSC commissioner Ramon Fernandez for criticizing the way the local Olympic body has been running its affairs in so far as the training of the national athletes is concerned.
Cojuangco said the PSC should focus on its role on grassroots development and fund the athletes of national sports associations.
Ramirez countered that the POC should find financial assistance elsewhere if it doesn’t want the government sports agency to meddle on how the money was spent.
“It’s normal in any group to disagree on certain matters,” said Romasanta. “But at the end of the day, they will still realize each other’s roles and responsibilities and work for a common goal.”
But Fernandez wasn’t done yet.
The four-time Most Valuable Player in the Philippine Basketball Association snapped back at Cojuangco yesterday, and told the POC chief to return the money that the Olympic body spent for hosting the Asian Games Centennial Festival in 2014.
Venting his ire through his Facebook account Maxi Green, Fernandez said the POC received a total of P38 million for the festival, which he claimed was bankrolled by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
The event held three years ago at Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City was attended by top national Olympic committee leaders from 43 countries in the continent led by OCA president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah of Kuwait.
“Return the money now,” Fernandez demanded. “It’s for an official OCA event, which was funded by OCA.”
Cojuangco earlier branded Fernandez a game fixer while playing for Toyota in the PBA.
“He used to fix games against Toyota. Do you want a sports leader who can throw a game away just for money?” said Cojuangco. “How would the athletes feel if they have that kind of a leader?”
Fernandez is mulling a libel case against Cojuangco for making those statements.