The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Jesse C. Ong
Philippine Olympic Committee President Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, Jr. has gained a fourth term as chief of the local Olympic body unopposed after the Pasig City Regional Trial Court denied the motion by the camp of Ricky Vargas for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the POC elections.
The court’s decision effectively shut any legal obstacle to the POC polls, which was held on Friday at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City.
In a statement on Thursday, Vargas, who is the head of Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines (ABAP), acknowledged having received the order of the court denying their application for TRO on the POC elections.
For his part, Cojuangco, through POC Vice President Joey Romasanta, hailed the court’s decision “as a vindication for the POC election rules.” Cojuangco likewise expressed gratitude to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for upholding the local Olympic body’s constitution and by-laws.
The camp of Vargas had motioned for a TRO against the holding of the POC elections after the ABAP chief was disqualified by an election body from running against Cojuangco, claiming that he does not qualify as an active member of the local Olympic body.
Vargas’ group argued that the election committee interpreted the term “active membership” liberally to find a ground to disqualify him from the POC race.
Even if it ruled against granting the camp of Vargas a TRO, the Pasig RTC has scheduled hearings for December 9 and 16 to determine that rightful definition of the term “active membership”, which is the bone of contention in the case.
“Ergo, the issue has not been settled with finality. We will await the resolution of this case,” Vargas said.
Meanwhile, following the court’s decision denying his rival’s appeal for TRO on the conduct of the POC polls, Cojuangco said he is still open to working with Vargas for the sake of Philippine sports and the national athletes.
“Of course, why not? Natural lang sa akin ‘yun. I’ve been through a lot of political exercise already. That’s how I look at it,” he explained in a published interview.
Cojuangco said that his first order of business is to bring back unity among POC members, especially with the Southeast Asian Games and Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games approaching.