Nothing new from Mariano

I didn’t mean to be rude but I came close to stifling a yawn when billiards manager Perry Mariano started to talk about corruption and thievery in the national sports associations. He talked of officials pocketing money appropriated by the Philippine Sports Commission for athletes and athletes’ equipment, or how  some unauthorized officials managed to  dip their hand  into the funds in the first place.
I took a sip of  the cappuccino in front of me, hoping that it would rouse, if not stimulate, my interest in what Perry was talking about. I’ve heard the same complaint countless times.
The sad thing is nobody could do anything about the situation.
For all it’s worth, Perry  said forming  a ministry of sports, run by the government,  would solve most of the ills of Philippine sports.
The manager  of world billiards champ  Dennis Orcollo and president  of the BMPAP (Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines),  Perry invited me for coffee one rainy night early this week, in a café  near my West Triangle home. When he arrived, he had a huge Manila envelope tucked under his arm
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Perry also talked about the not too bright state of the sport of billiards in the country today,  and informed me that the game’s woes were not confined  to having two rival associations.
He said the billiards players have been complaining about not getting the money allotted to them by the PSC or getting only a portion of what was due them. “They suspect that an official in the organization was pocketing what rightfully belonged to them,” he said.
This, he said, was also the sentiment  of managers who got no reimbursement for their legitimate expenses.
Perry then pulled a sheaf of papers from the Manila envelope and handed them to me.  One was a letter he had written to PSC chair Ritchie Garcia in behalf of the BMPAP requesting for a copy  of all financial assistance  extended by the commission to the Billiards and Snooker  Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) where Arturo “Bong” Ilagan is the president and  Aristeo “Putch” Puyat the chairman.
The second letter contained the response of Garcia  and a summary of the report Perry had requested.
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“We made the request in an effort to  uphold the welfare of billiards players in the Philippines, particularly those who are members of the BSCP. It is also to ensure that funds meant  for the development of billiards players, as well as the sport of billiards,  are really spent  for the purpose for which they were requested.”
The long-haired Mariano warned  that  any irregularity on the part of the  the BSCP  will not be condoned by the BMPAP.
Perry said his association just wants  to get the figures, “and from that we can determine where the funds were spent. We will know  if the  money meant for the athletes is being pocketed by an official with a very bad reputation.”
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This is not going to be welcome news to  those concerned.
Starting next season,  members of the coaching staff of PBA teams  will no longer be allowed to “moonlight” as television broadcast panelists.
The proposal will most likely come from PBA commissioner Chito Salud who believe that  broadcasters officially connected with a PBA team is inclined to be biased.
Right now, there seems to be  more panelists connected with a PBA team, compared with those without affiliation.
Offhand, I could think of the following: Ronnie Magsanoc is assistant coach of Meralco, Andy Jao is  Rain or Shine consultant,  Alex Compton is Powerade assistant coach while Richard Del Rosario holds the same post at Rain or Shine.