Nikki slams Joseph for ‘evading issue’

MANILA—Former Sen. Nikki Coseteng yesterday accused swimming chief Mark Joseph of evading the issues thrown against him and of hurling “false” accusations against a top official and a coach of a swimming group backed by the senator.

“He’s trying to malign our group and hurl false charges that have no bearing on the malversation and other cases [he is facing],” said Coseteng.

She had earlier filed before the Office of the Ombudsman money laundering charges against the Philippine Aquatic Sports Association (Pasa) president and several former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. officials.

Coseteng and top officials of the Aquatic Sports Association of the Philippines (Asap), as well as a group of coaches and parents of young swimmers not recognized by the Pasa, had also called for Joseph’s resignation.

Joseph last week replied in a statement that the call for him to step down was a campaign to take over the Pasa leadership by a group not recognized by the swim body.

Without backing up his allegations with evidence, he also claimed that Asap president Susan Papa had pending criminal cases in Muntinlupa and that Asap-accredited coach Joey Andaya had been convicted for molesting a swimmer.
Papa has denied Joseph’s allegations.

“Those are all lies,” Papa said. “He couldn’t answer the issues against him, so he decided to hit back.”

Coseteng said Joseph’s “insults and innuendos and continuing barrage of falsehoods and obvious squid tactics are vain attempts to cover [Joseph’s] money laundering and corrupt acts—even using the training of young swimmers to illegally siphon funds for training.”

Joseph is facing money laundering charges along with former Pagcor chief Efraim Genuino, who allegedly shelled out more than P34 million to Pasa’s training program from December 2007 up to January of 2009 at Trace College in Los Baños, Laguna, an institution said to be controlled by the Genuino family.

Coseteng also questioned the way Joseph has been running the Pasa, which she accused of discriminating against young non-Pasa swimmers during international competitions.

But Joseph said “people calling for my resignation are not even members of our federation [Pasa].”

Coseteng also blasted Pasa for lacking a decent swimming program as “evidenced by the poor performance” of the national team in the Southeast Asian age-group held last month in Vietnam.