Will POC defy court order?

The Pasig Regional Trial Court has called for a renewed POC election on Feb. 23 to allow cycling president Rep. Bambol Tolentino to run for chairman and boxing president Ricky Vargas for president because they were unlawfully disqualified as candidates in the 2016 polls or so decreed judge Maria Gracia Cadiz-Casaclang in a decision dated last Dec. 1.

POC president Jose Cojuangco, Jr. ran unopposed when Vargas was disqualified and won a fourth consecutive term in the flawed 2016 election. No candidate was eligible for chairman so the position was left vacant. Triathlon secretary-general Tom Carrasco filed his candidacy for chairman but was disqualified because a candidate had to be an NSA president. Carrasco used to be triathlon president. Based on judge Cadiz-Casaclang’s ruling, there will be no additional candidates on Feb. 23. For president, it will be Cojuangco against Vargas and for chairman, Tolentino will run unopposed.

Because the RTC decision is final and executory, lawyers for Cojuangco went to the Court of Appeals in an attempt to restrain the election. They submitted a motion for a temporary restraining order and injunction. The Court of Appeals subsequently turned down their motion. Now, Cojuangco is leaving it up to the POC General Assembly to call or not call the election based on an interpretation of a letter from IOC official Pere Miro, deputy director general and National Olympic Committee (NOC) relations director addressed to him dated last Feb. 9.

Miro suggested for the POC to call an extraordinary meeting of the General Assembly to address this situation. Conceivably, the underlying message to the General Assembly could be it has the power to defy the court order and if the election is held, the Philippines may be suspended by the IOC. Suspension would jeopardize the Philippines’ participation in the Asian Games in August and hosting the SEA Games next year. But a source said the IOC will suspend an NOC for government intervention only if the state directly installs an appointee to the NOC, not if a court orders the conduct of a legal and democratic election.