'POC is not Peping'

PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco is not yet ready to take a graceful exit.

The call for Peping’s resignation as POC chief is getting louder every day with the increasing number of sports stakeholders asking the longest-sitting sports leader to leave his post.

But the uncle of former President Benigno Aquino III is as hard as a rock to be ousted. The position is too much juicy to leave.

Cojuangco, a former Tarlac congressman, assumed the POC position in 2005 and has been sitting in his throne ever since. One of the reasons why Cojuangco is being asked to step down is the deteriorating medal performance of the Philippine contingent in the recent Southeast Asian Games and the reported failure of the POC to liquidate government funds, among others.

Moreover, the POC under Peping also failed to oversee how the national sports associations handled their programs to develop competitive athletes, particularly for international competitions.

PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez and former PSC Chairman Perry Mequi have both openly aired their call for Cojuangco’s resignation, but both believed too that the POC chief will not step down. Mequi, who is based in Dumaguete City, said that even if Cojuangco is in the throes of death, he will not resign from the POC.

Both Fernandez and Mequi are also aware of the plight of the coaches and athletes with the current situation in Philippine sports under Cojuangco. SSBacolod