POC welcomes 6 NSAs
The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) formally welcomed at least six national sports associations to its fold of regular members, POC president Bambol Tolentino announced yesterday after a board meeting.
Those elevated to the status of regular members include modern pentathlon and surfing as they are part of the Olympic program and sambo, kurash, bridge and jujitsu, as they are going to be played when the country hosts the 30th Southeast Asian Games from Nov. 30-Dec. 11 in various parts of Metro Manila, Capas in Tarlac and major cities in Central and Southern Tagalog.
The four sports were likewise played during the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.
Now that the membership of the abovementioned NSAs have been upgraded, Tolentino stressed that they can now all enjoy financial support from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
While these sports have been recipients of support from the PSC, it was not done on a regular basis as they are associate members of the POC.
“They have all complied with the constitutional requirements,” added Tolentino, who leads the NSAs of cycling and chess apart from having a major stake in kickboxing as well.
The elevation of these have now raised the number of voting members in the POC to about 50 and their being voting members is going to be crucial with the POC elections taking place in November 2020.
Tolentino, also a Tagaytay congressman, took over the POC presidency following the sudden resignation of boxing boss Ricky Vargas last June, having beaten athletics chief Philip Juico in a special election.