POC regime change draws new supporter in Tanduay

Another private entity has joined the list of corporations that have thrown their support to the new Philippine Olympic Committee leadership.

Tanduay, long associated with basketball, has pledged to support the country’s sports programs for different sports.

“As long as they use the funds the right way, 100 percent [we’ll support],” said Tanduay Distillers Inc. president Lucio “Bong” Tan, Jr., who also heads Tanduay Athletics, which has been promoting grassroots development.

Last month, Ricky Vargas took over as president of the POC as the boxing chief unseated Jose “Peping” Cojuangco in a court-ordered election.

Vargas has vowed to address the problems in local sports, including the lack of funds and the declining performance of Filipino athletes in international games.

Since then, the POC has gained support from the private sector starting with telecommunication tycoon and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) chair emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan, who pledged P20 million as seed money.

“We’ll start with the four Bs—basketball, boxing, billiards, bowling. Then from there, we move to other sports,” said Tan during a media briefing on Thursday at Century Park Hotel Manila. “I was told before that we were among the best in Asia, in the ’60s. But sports politics got in the way. So we should not mix politics with sports.”

Other sports patrons who have pledged support for the POC include Lamoiyan Corporation, San Miguel Corporation and Ayala Corporation.