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Tempest brewing at Peping-Art unification

By Julius Manicad

10/05/2008

The unified ticket of Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco and Art Macapagal has yet to formally take off, but some quarters in the POC general assembly are already shooting it down with more than a month before the POC elections on Nov. 28.

According to highly-placed POC source, the possible tandem of Cojuangco and Macapagal is not acceptable to everybody since some officials will be left without any position in what could be a high-caliber POC executive council.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the resistance may come from the Macapagal faction, which is in deep trouble after their leader, Celso Dayrit, is being grilled by the powerful ethics committee for the alleged mismanagement of a $10,000 worth of financial grant from the Olympic Council of Asia which was coursed through him in 2006.

Dayrit snubbed the invitation by the Frank Elizalde-led ethics committee last week, a move seen by some members of the executive council as a tactic to delay the proceeding until a new administration, probably led by Macapagal, assumes office and acquits him.

The negotiation which will give Macapagal the chairmanship in the Cojuangco ticket has yet to start as the ruling bloc is still looking for a qualified person to broker the deal.

Should the tandem bog down, the ruling party will tap controversial athletics chief Go Teng Kok to run as chairman, challenging the incumbent Robert Aventajado, who is seeking his third consecutive term under the opposition banner. POC spokesmanJoey Romasanta said Go is a “logical choice” for having the support of at least 11 national sports association leaders.

The source refused to name names, but stressed that it might be “some politicians” with a strong link to President Arroyo and his equally-influential husband, First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo. Macapagal is the half brother of the President and is believed to enjoy the all-out support of the chief executive.

“The ‘dream team’ of Cojuangco and Macapagal may not be a dream, after all,” the source said. “There are some people who want to turn it into a nightmare. Those people want to serve their own interest. They are not after unity in sports.”

Go, the acrobatic-tongued official who also led chess and basketball, validated the source’s claim, but admitted that the reports about the possible tandem have received a frosty reaction from some members of the 40-man general assembly.

He said Macapagal is definitely on the winning end should he decides to jump over the Cojuangco ticket since the former House Speaker had already made a pronouncement that this could be his last term as president of the local Olympic movement.

And besides, should the shooting president lost his electoral battle against a seasoned politician like Cojuangco, he will have no position in the executive council, dooming his political career even before it could formally starts.

“If he lost, he’ll not get the chance to serve the Olympic movement and perform his ability,” Go said. “Art should accept the offer. It’s already a win-win situation for him and his group.”