#lvpi

Philippine Volleyball Improves By Leaps and Bounds

Don’t look now, but Philippine Volleyball is showing amazing upgrades right in the middle of the ongoing SEA Games jousts. In a thrilling, come-from-behind shocker meant only for the movies, our men’s team strung up the biggest upset ever by bumping off the crown favorites and 4-time defending champions, Thailand, 17-25, 25-20, 23-25, 27-25, 17-15. Today, it’s on to the Finals against erstwhile…

Peping holds a slot in the all-important executive board, being the immediate past president of the POC. Worse, he also has a stranglehold on the executive board, with most of the current members still beholden to him. His influence among the many key personalities within the POC still remains. Collectively, they can still wreak havoc by skewing certain decisions in their favor. Thus, the campaign to wrest control over the national sports agenda must continue without let-up.

– Manila Bulletin

– Smart Gilas Pilipinas

– Play.ph

– CNN Philippines

– Dragon Boat Cebu Central

For his first priority, Ricky has vowed to unify the different sports bodies that were divided and consequently weakened by Peping’s high-handedness.

Case in point is volleyball, where there are two associations vying for international recognition: the original entity, the Philippine Volleyball Federation; and Peping’s creation, the Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas Inc (LVPI). Both are contending to be the country’s recognized volleyball governing body. There are talks that women’s volleyball will be given a slot at the Asian Games, and the LVPI has taken the lead in the formation of the team. This tells us who has the upperhand in the struggle for recognition. With the absence of a singular governing body, programming for the men’s and women’s volleyball league schedules have been a mess, causing much confusion among players and followers, and turning off not a few fans from this wonderful sport.

– CNN Philippines

– Spin.ph

– ABS-CBN

– ActiveSG

– FoxSports.com

Another case is in dragonboating. The Philippine Dragon Boat Federation (PDBF) was disenfranchised by Peping in 2010, after it voted against him during the 2009 POC election. Peping then placed dragon boating under the Philippine Canoe Kayak Federation (PCKF). Once revered as the rockstars in the dragonboat world, our paddlers today have lost their competitive edge and their stature as one of the world’s top teams. Dragon boating in the Philippines is a shameful mess, a sorry result of the internal squabbling in the sport.

Trying hard to get back the lost glory. (Philippines Go for Gold)

In table tennis, two associations vie for attention: the original Table Tennis Association of the Philippines (TATAP) and the Philippine Table Tennis Federation. So with Bowling, Swimming and more. These sports disciplines with many heads have been the bane for coordination and programming for the future. This has been one of the main causes leading to the embarrassing deterioration of Philippine Sports.

Ian Larriba wowed ’em before health conditions forced her to park her paddle temporarily. (Philippine Star)

There are many other sports associations where the Peping-propped leadership have caused much infighting. In many cases, Peping’s select sports Mafia has reigned supreme despite rampant charges of corruption, incompetence and inactivity. In swimming, Peping refused to change an inutile, yet loyal leadership with an alleged drug-abuse case. Other associations had NPAs (Non-Performing A**holes) manning the fort.

These associations will have to be scrutinized intently by a POC Arbitration Committee soonest. There is welcome progress here, as the old Arbitration Committee head – Joey Romasanta – has been replaced. Romasanta is himself a part of Peping’s Mafia and is no less the head of one such controversial association, the LVPI.

– ABS-CBN

– Eagle News

– Inquirer.net

– Daily Guardian

– Spin.ph

Ricky has released a new line-up for the membership of all key committees in the POC. It is a mix of old and new, partly with the view of trimming the power Peping continues to hold, while at the same time extending a hand of reconciliation to Peping inspite the fact that Peping had maliciously schemed to disqualify him from the POC elections previously.

The biggest surprise, which peeved even some core elements who worked hard for Peping’s eventual ouster, was Ricky’s decision to award the chairmanship of the Constitution Review Committee to Peping himself. No less than the consummate sports activist, Dr Perry Mequi, had said this was the “Joke of the Day” when the announcement came out.

It is amazing how Ricky can still be patient with Peping and his cohorts. He is a gentleman’s gentleman, capable of turning his left cheek after being slapped on the right. One wonders how Ricky will be able to survive the culture of scheming, maneuvering and ass-licking Peping had developed throughout his reign as President.

POC President Ricky Vargas with POC Chairman Bembol Tolentino, PSC Chairman Butch Ramirez and DOF Sec Allan Cayetano prepares to host the SEA Games this 2019. (Manila Bulletin)

This is just one of the many challenges that Ricky and his new team will need to address. An insider noted that it is only now that Ricky is realizing the extent of the damage done by Peping’s years of devious management. Of careers ruined, of sports disciplines going down the drain, of precious resources utilized for patronage and all.

– Youtube

– Rappler

– Phil Sports Commission

– Fanpop.com

– Rappler.com

Ricky needs to show a strong resolve to undo these wrongs. Our athletes, as well as the entire sporting community, are observing intently, and are silently praying to see a strength of character that will bring Philippine Sports from the dark age to a New Age of hope and great optimism. Only a clear demonstration of such will inspire our athletes, and motivate them to work even harder for the pride and glory of our country and people.

Despite the PVF’s long standing status as the Philippines’ recognized governing body for volleyball, FIVB accepted the recommendations of the POC and AVC hook, line and sinker, and acted swiftly to have it removed. It denied the PVF an opportunity to defend itself against the malicious allegations made by the POC. The FIVB failed to grant the PVF a hearing where PVF could have answered the allegations and foil the malicious intentions of the POC.

It will be recalled that years earlier, the PVF had been one of the National Sports Association (NSA) that had opposed Peping Cojuangco in his bid for reelection as President of the POC. Clearly, by eliminating the PVF then, Peping had solidified his hold on Philippine sports and removed one more opposition among the NSAs. Indeed, the stench of dirty sports politics was all over in this dastardly move.

The wily Peping Cojuangco engineered the demise of Philippine Sports during the dark decade of his term. (Inquirer.net) 

In moving for the ouster of the PVF, Peping had bypassed the POC constitution by-laws. It needed a 3/4 vote from the 46-member General Assembly to legitimize its elimination. The rights of the PVF as an independent national association were further violated by the FIVB with its swift disenfranchisement, a move that clearly manifested the influence Cojuangco had developed among international sports bodies as a result of his long stay as POC head.

Due process and fair treatment were also denied by the FIVB Disciplinary, Appeals and Ethics Panels. The Board of Administration (BA), on the other hand, likewise ignored the pleas of the PVF and instead, immediately granted recognition to a new Philippine volleyball federation endorsed by Peping, the League of Volleyball in the Philippines Inc (LVPI).

In removing the PVF, FIVB violated its very own constitution in regard the autonomy and protection of a national federation. Its decision on the arbitrary action of the POC without the General Assembly vote is definitely suspect.

The malicious move of Peping’s POC to create a new volleyball federation and install its high-ranking officials as officers of the new federation shows bias and a clear conflict of interest. Peping’s lackey, and POC 1st Vice-President Joey Romasanta became the president of the new federation. Romasanta, already the head of the Philippine Karatedo Federation (PKF), was awarded a second NSA. This is another questionable move as sports association heads are supposed to focus on 1 sport alone in order to be truly effective.

Joey Romasanta, already a controversial figure in Karatedo, was appointed LVPI President. (Tempo.ph)

Other members close to Peping joined in to support the rape of the PVF. Atty. Ramon Malinao, legal counsel of POC, became the legal counsel of the new federation. POC 2nd Vice-President Jeff Tamayo became the treasurer, while POC Consultant Benjamin Espiritu became the Managing Director of the new federation.

Clearly, the POC had removed a national volleyball federation only to have its own people handle volleyball in the Philippines. Propriety dictates that POC should have tapped non-partisan and highly qualified individuals to run the new federation to erase doubts concerning its true motive. But the growing popularity of women’s volleyball has had greedy individuals salivating for a piece of the action. And Peping’s naughty hands are seen all over the place.

Members of Peping’s sports mafia. (inquirer.net) 

With the recent removal of Peping Cojuangco as POC President, it is imperative that the new POC take positive action to rectify this grave injustice. The lack of a singular leadership in volleyball has caused confusing signals and an annoying lack of direction, leading to overlapping schedules, a villainous race for talents, and an equally despicable race to gain recognition from the FIVB.

Talks are rife that the Philippines will be sending a women’s volleyball team to the Asian Games in Indonesia late this year. Despite the lack of credentials, the lack of experience and training, and the utter lack of time to organize a decent team. And it is the LVPI which is volunteering to organize this ill-advised participation. Peping suppressed volleyball’s participation in the previous SEA Games when the PVF was handling volleyball. This left us lagging behind while the likes of Thailand and Vietnam developed their national programs steadily. As soon as the LVPI took over however, the gates to our participation in international volleyball forays has suddenly been opened. Unabashedly.

The new POC must now work on rectifying the damages done to Philippine Volleyball through the FIVB. The PVF must be given its day before the Judicial Panel where it can fairly defend itself. We hope that the PVF is eventually reinstated as the rightful governing body for volleyball in the country. In the interest of justice and human decency, Vargas and the new POC can do no less.