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REP. ABRAHAM “BAMBOL” TOLENTINO officially declared his intention to seek a full four-year term as president on Tuesday when the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) holds elections on November 27.
“I will not deny it, I will definitely run for president,” announced Tolentino, a congressman from the 8th Cavite district, during the Philippine Sports Writers Association (PSA) Online Forum.
“I did not run for the presidency during the entire term. I only ran to fill the void when Mr. [Ricky] Vargas resigned, ”added the head of the POC, also president of the Philippine Integrated Cycling Federation (PhilCycling).
The submission of candidatures will begin on October 1.
Tolentino defeated athletic chief Dr. Philip Ella Juico by four votes, 24-20, in special elections ordered by the International Olympic Committee on July 28 last year after Vargas, president of the Association of Boxing Alliances in Philippines (ABAP), will resign. of your post.
His election meant serving on the POC for just 16 months or not even half of the full four-year term allowed.
But Tolentino was able to straighten the boat when the Philippines dominated the 30 Southeast Asian Games that the country hosted in December last year under his tenure.
“It is not to brag about it, but it has seen what I could achieve, much more if it were a complete term,” emphasized the director of the POC.
“I was the sole author of 56 sports and how many events were on the SEA Games program, how I personally met all the NSAs [national sports associations]”He added. “So the question in the sports community is: Did I contribute something? They must find out. “
Later, Tolentino was prompted to reveal two of his running mates: Al S. Panlilio of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas as first vice president, and the mayor of the city of Ormoc, Richard Gómez, of the modern pentathlon, as second vice president.
Apart from the two, Tolentino declined to name his full ticket in the Forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Go For Gold, Milo, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant, and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., with Upstream Media as an official partner of webcast. and with Smart technology.
“That’s all I can reveal for now,” said the lawmaker, who expects a one-on-one battle for the presidency against Clint Aranas, the former president of the Government Services Insurance System (GSIS), who previously declared his candidacy. .
The POC elections, Tolentino said, would be a face-to-face exercise unlike the POC General Assembly held last month through a virtual meeting, the first during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We intend to hold the elections in the ballroom of a hotel or in a restaurant that, let’s say, could hold 2,000. In this way, we are not violating health protocols, ”he said.
According to the Inter-Agency Working Group for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) guidelines for general modified community quarantine or modified community quarantine, gatherings are allowed as long as attendees do not exceed 30 percent of the total capacity of the venue.
Tolentino at the same time praised President Duterte’s signing of the Bayanihan Law 2, which included a provision that allocates 180 million pesos for sports that would reverse the allocations of national athletes and coaches to 100 percent and for classified and aspiring qualifiers. for the reprogrammed Tokyo. Olympic Games.
“I initiated measures in Congress with the aim of giving our national athletes and coaches all their benefits,” he said. “I was alarmed to learn about the subsidy cut in July.”
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) was forced to cut the allocations of national team members in half starting in July due to the exhaustion of the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF), the main source of funds for the elite sports.
Pagcor is the main contributor to the NSDF, but with casino operations closed, remittances from the gaming agency to the PSC dropped sharply from an average of P120 million a month, the latest in March, to a low of P7 million a month in July. .
“Athletes and coaches need to survive during the pandemic and their 100 percent allocation is the best the government can do during these difficult times,” Tolentino said.
Athletes and coaches are also entitled to pandemic assistance of P5,000 each under the Bayanihan Law 2.
The national team on the PSC roster is 1,620 people, divided into 996 athletes, 262 coaches, 280 for athletes and 82 for coaches.
