Vargas: “I’ve entered a den of people not aligned to my philosophies.” —FILE PHOTO
Philippine Olympic Committee president Ricky Vargas remained firm in the face of what he said was a destabilization attempt in the agency, saying that he will not bow to pressure while being determined to help the country host the Southeast Asian Games as best as it can.
And because the Philippines is so committed to the biennial games at this point, Vargas has called for an election of all positions in January, so as to also comply with the bylaws of the agency stating that elections should be held only during an Olympic year.
“They’ve been trying to destabilize the whole organization,” Vargas told the Inquirer, a few hours after a heated general assembly meeting that included former POC president Jose ‘Peping’ Cojuangco and his supporters.
January elections
Vargas said that the bylaws point to an election after the Olympics, which will be in Tokyo next year. But he is willing to have it in January, so as to enable the country to prepare well for the SEA Games hosting.
“With the early elections, I hope this will quiet the organization and let the POC focus on more important tasks,” added the president of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines.
But his detractors want to hold the elections as soon as possible.
“Do we disturb our preparations for hosting the SEA Games?” Vargas asked even as he reiterated that he has done nothing but reach out to members of the former administration so that they could have a harmonious working relationship within the group.
“I’ve entered a den of people not aligned to my philosophies,” he said. “That, despite the fact that I have reached out to them and given them key positions.”
Vargas relieved those people from those positions, counting Cojuangco, who was chair of the constitutional amendments committee, and Robert Bachmann, the head of the membership committee.
Appointment recall
Vargas, who won over Cojuangco during the elections last year, likewise recalled the appointments of SEA Games chef de mission Monsour Del Rosario of taekwondo and deputy CDM Charlie Ho of net ball as well as the designation of POC first vice president Joey Romasanta as the country’s CDM to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“To determine whether he (Vargas) indeed has the support of the members of the General Assembly, to save the 30th SEA Games and the POC as an institution, we are calling for the general elections to be held at the soonest possible time and we will agree to declare all positions vacant if that happens,” said Romasanta.
According to Romasanta, Vargas was asked to discuss and explain all the questions of the executive board regarding the POC’s relations with Phisgoc and the pricing of Asics as official outfitter in the SEA Games.
The POC chief, meanwhile, affirmed his appointment of sepak takraw’s Karen Caballero as deputy secretary general after installing Tolentino as Romasanta’s replacement as Tokyo Olympics CDM.
Vargas made these announcements without the approval of the 13-man executive board, majority of which have questioned the POC’s dealings with the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) in hosting the 30th SEAG on Nov. 30-Dec. 11.
“These politics (in the POC) are not in my DNA,” Vargas said. “It only shows what their intentions are, and that is to destabilize the POC.”
POC general counsel Alberto Agra explained that the local Olympic body exercises oversight in the SEA Games since POC officials are incorporators of the Phisgoc and added that the latter was a faithful reproduction of the purposes of the Philsoc, the organizer of the 2005 SEA Games hosted by Manila.