COMPROMISE is a no-no.
Moving in and working for sweeping competent reforms in the Philippine Olympic Committee is the crying need of day.
This is the only way Philippine sports can be rescued from the quicksand of mediocrity where it has languished under the dreaded POC gang headed by Peping Cojuangco.
As the outgoing International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge has maintained, there can be world-class athletes only where there are world-class sports leaders.
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How classy is the current POC leadership?
Well, not truly dumb and hopeless. In fact, it had the temerity to offer another set of tired diagnoses following the latest Olympic debacle.
The POC chief, eyeing a longer stay in office, cried malnutrition.
Another genius replayed the tired tune about going (again) to the grassroots.
The chef de mission, betraying his incompetence, demanded drastic changes, stronger focus.
The closest to base came with this advice from a burly overfed buddy in the Cojuangco central committee who ordered that London be forgotten and instead focus on the next Myanmar Southeast Asian Games excursion.
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As noted here previously, the IOC advisory from Dr. Rogge has become doubly significant following the all-revealing crash suffered by Team Philippines in the London Olympics.
Why?
Our world-class Olympic excursionists, to repeat, were not unlike rescue workers submitting an official report despite their refusal to find their own Olympic wreckage.
Truth is that there’s no need anymore for another search to determine what had chiefly caused the London shame.
It glares and stares everybody in eye: The latest crash by PH in the London Games was caused by none other than the dirty brand of confused, deceptive leadership perfected under the Cojuangco reign.
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No need to tarry further.
It will be truly heroic on the part of management magnate Manny V. Pangilinan if he saves poor Philippine sports by heeding a clamor for him to seek the presidency of the POC.
An initial gut survey showed there’s a strong solid group of reformists ready and willing to support Pangilinan in the POC polls in November.
That’s if the election pushes through at all.
Last heard of, the beleaguered POC head played it his wily way and offered a compromise.
He has asked Pangilinan to be the POC chair, with him staying indefinitely as president.
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Mr. Pangilinan need not be told how they’re trying to use him to patch up the tattered and scandalous POC image.
Indeed, MVP would readily restore faith in the national Olympic movement with his credentials and unblemished credibility.
But there’s no need to check on past victims how MVP could also end up no better than Go Teng Kok, who delivered the swing votes that led to Cojuango reelection four years ago.
On MVP’s part, there’s no danger of the highly respected over-achiever ending up a disgruntled running dog, the way GTK had fallen prey.
A POC wall flower looks more like it.
This serves as both warning and distress call.