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The current president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, was re-elected for a new four-year term after the conclusion of the body’s general elections on Friday at the East Ocean Palace restaurant in Parañaque.
Tolentino, who represented cycling and chess in the voting process, comfortably defeated opponent Atty. Jesus Clint Aranas of archery, 30-22. His new term will last until December 31, 2024.
Aranas’ running mate, current handball president Steve Hontiveros, maintained his position after beating Tom Carrasco in triathlon, 28-25.
Al Panlilio of basketball and Richard Gómez of fencing and modern pentathlon were elected First and Second Vice President, respectively. They defeated Philip Ella Juico of athletics, 30-23, and Ada Milby of Rugby, 31-22.
On the other hand, Cynthia Carrion-Norton of gymnastics was elected treasurer, defeating Julian Camacho, 27-22. Baseball’s Chito Loyzaga was voted auditor, beating weightlifting Monico Puentevella in a close battle, 27-24.
For the four-person executive board, Dr. Raul Canlas from surfing, Pearl Managuelod from Muay Thai, Atty. Charlie Ho of netball and Dave Carter of judo were elected, with 36, 31, 28 and 27 votes, respectively.
A total of 53 votes were cast, which were divided into 50 national sports associations, two representatives from the Athletes Commission and the representative of the Philippines on the International Olympic Committee Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski. A winning candidate needed a majority of 27 votes to be elected.
Three votes were cast electronically, namely from Hidilyn Diaz from the Athletes Commission, the Philippine Football Federation and the Philippine Skating Union. The Philippine Table Tennis Federation was unable to cast its vote, while the Philippine Badminton Association (PBA) initially had a stalemate in their selection for elector.
Secretary General Christopher Quimpo from the faction of Deputy Alfredo Benítez and former Vice President. Jejomar Binay both appeared, but the PBA had decided in a resolution Thursday that Quimpo should be the one to vote.
Now armed with a new mandate, Tolentino aims to continue the momentum of the national teams heading into a very busy 2021. The country will participate in several major sporting events, such as the postponed Tokyo Olympics, the 31st Southeast Asian Games, the Asian Youth Games, and the Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games.
He revealed that he lobbied the Senate through his brother, Senator Francis Tolentino, to appropriate P900 million in funds for the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) in the national budget next year in order to reinforce the training of the national athletes of the country.
“The PSC had a zero budget for next year’s activities. After its final reading [on Thursday]In addition to the House version, we were able to add. It covers all the activities next year, ”said Tolentino.
Held under strict protocol
With the government edict prohibiting mass gatherings still in effect, the POC was able to obtain approval from the Interagency Working Group on Emerging Infectious Diseases, the Health Department, and the Parañaque city government to hold the elections.
To accomplish this, the POC instituted free antigen swab testing for all attendees, which numbered about 150 people. One person had to test negative to get a pass to the second floor assembly hall, where the elections were held. In the event that a person tested positive, they would have been placed in the designated isolation area.
The vote itself was also a show of strict implementation, as Skating’s ballot was nearly annulled due to his inability to properly seal his ballot. On the third attempt, the president of the Election Committee, Atty. Theodore Kalaw IV gave his approval and registered the ballot for the scrutiny.
