BOXING chief Ricky Vargas will seek redress before the courts in the coming days.
He vowed to do so after the election panel of the Philippine Olympic Committee denied his motion for reconsideration, and disqualified another candidate, triathlon’s Tom Carrasco from his bid to seek another term as chairman.
This means that Vargas remains disqualified in his bid to challenge POC president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco in his bid to seek a fourth term.
On the other hand, the position of chairman will remain uncontested until the Nov. 25 polls because Carrasco’s main rival for the post, Tagaytay congressman Abraham Tolentino is also disqualified.
“Mr. Vargas will seek redress in the courts of law. He wants an objective and authoritative interpretation of this indistinct eligibility requirement,” said Vargas spokesman Chito Salud.
In a resolution sent to all parties concerned, election panel chief Frank Elizalde explained that physical attendance was the main requirement for an official of a national sports association to be eligible to run for a post in the POC elections.
According to records, Vargas attended only one meeting of the body between Feb. 6 and May 25 this year.
“We are prepared to take legal action,” said Amateur Boxing Alliance of the Philippine executive director Ed Picson.
Elizalde told Vargas that his record of attendance was way short of the requirement for active membership in the general assembly, as prescribed under section 11, article 7 of the POC constitution and bylaws.
Elizalde said this became the basis for the commission’s decision to reject his candidacy.
Commission member Brother Bernie Oca of La Salle also signed the document while Congressman Conrado Estrella III, abstained.
Meanwhile, the commission has declared Carrasco ineligible to run for chairman after it upheld a protest lodged against his candidacy by Tolentino.
Elizalde said Carrasco lacks qualification after Ramon Marchan was elected president of the Triathlon Association of the Philippines on Aug. 10. Carrasco was elected secretary on the same day.
“Effectively, their terms of office had legally ended,” said Elizalde in a separate letter and that Carrasco ceased to be president of TRAP.
His rival, Tolentino, will remain disqualified and the panel learned that he never attended a meeting of the General Assembly.
“The commission looked into the word “active” literally, interpreting mere physical presence more than absence as sufficient definition of the word,” according to Elizalde in the resolution.
The panel is still resolving two more complaints, one lodged by volleyball’s Ricky Palou on Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas official Peter Cayco as their official representative to the polls.
Another one is from Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta, who claimed that Cojuangco is no long eligible to seek another term of office in POC.
A total term limit of 12 years has been set by the International Olympic Committee, and under the 17-year ruling, the president has a fixed term of eight years, and is renewable for four years only and a total of 12 years in office.
