Rallyists put pressure on POC officials

A group calling for the resignation of Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose ‘Peping’ Cojuangco yesterday vowed to put pressure on the government to press charges against the long-time Tarlac lawmaker for mismanaging funds given by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

During a rally at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, former PSC chairman Aparicio Mequi said that while the event didn’t draw the participation of the stakeholders, keeping the momen- tum going is crucial as he pleaded with the national sports associations to reorganize.

Mequi was joined by former volleyball official Boy Cantada, who organized the rally, former Sen. Nikki Coseteng and Susan Papa of the Philippine Swimming League, Johnny Romualdez of the Philippine Football Federation and officials from bowling and dragonboat.

“Remember that a revolution starts with one person,” said Mequi, who is hopeful that the movement will gain ground in the coming weeks as he challenged a powerful bloc in the POC to make its move.

The MVP group of business mogul of Manny V. Pangilinan controls marquee sports and Mequi insists that it baffles him why it continues to operate under the present conditions.

Mequi stressed: “Are you going to continue to operate and spend billions in an environment like the Philippines where sports leadership is somehow has not brought benefit to our country?”

Cantada had harsher words for Cojuangco, who is in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, with the Philippine delegation to the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.