Philta loses support from two sponsors

The fallout from the failed Philippine Tennis Association presidential election has started. Citing lack of support for the people running the organization, top supporters Cebuana Lhuillier and Palawan Pawnshop have both declared to continue their age-group tennis tournaments outside Philta’s authority and they will introduce their own unified ranking system.

Jean Henri Lhuillier, a long-time tennis partron, said that president Buddy Andrada and secretary general Romeo Magat have mismanaged the association.

“We can no longer give support to an association we feel is mismanaged by (Andrada and Magat) who have not shown any platform and programs for the past many years. But we are only pulling out our support to the association but not to the development of tennis in the Philippines. We will continue our thrust of developing fresh talents through our age group tennis circuit and we are upholding our support to our national team professional athletes like Treat Huey, Ruben Gonzales, Francis Casey Alcantara and Katharina Lehnert,” said Lhuillier, president and CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier and long-time tennis supporter.

“We feel that Philta, under the leadership of Mr. Andrada and Mr. Magat have been grossly remiss in its mission of advancing the sport of tennis in the Philippines. We believe that for Philippine tennis to advance, we need fresh ideas and new leadership said Bobby Castro, president and CEO of Palawan Pawnshop.”

Cebuana Lhuillier and Palawan Pawnshop comprise more than 80 percent of the age group tournaments in the country, underlying the lack of programs from Philta. The two companies are also responsible for numerous men’s tennis opens including some international-laden tournaments. /