PCBF responds

The Philippine Committee on Bodybuilding and Fitness (PCBF) has responded to allegations by physique athlete JP Yap that they were unfair in denying him the opportunity to participate in last month’s Arnold Classic in Ohio at the last minute. Yap claims to have properly qualified for the competition via an event in California last October. Yap says he obtained a National Physique Committee (NPC) card in the US, and qualified using a US address, which is supposedly allowed in the rules. Oscar Gan, president of the PCBF, wrote a letter to The Star in response.

“The PCBF is the only bodybuilding sports federation in the Philippines affiliated with the IFBB,” Gan explains in his letter. “The IFBB is recognized as the bodybuilding sport administrator by the Olympic Council of Asia, OCA. I was directly appointed by the IFBB to create a new federation in the Philippines (PCBF) that would abide by the rules of the IFBB.”

Yap says that he applied to represent the US due to a two-year long personal feud with Gan, which he says started at one of Gan’s events in Manila in 2015. Yap claims that Gan has been against his competing since then. Gan says that that is not the case, and that Yap merely misrepresented himself to the organizers of the Arnold Classic.

“This is a simple case of an athlete not disclosing the truth and playing victim after he was not allowed to participate,” Gan declares. “He tried to deceive the organization he is trying to join and it did not work out. He decided to challenge the authority of the PCBF as well as the rules of the IFBB. The athlete who is also an event organizer of a competing organization made plans to compete at the IFBB event without disclosure of his citizenship as well as non-disclosure of being an organizer for an event sanctioned by a competing organization. He was denied the opportunity to participate in the event for violating the rules of the IFBB. By doing his due diligence, he would have learned early on that he would not be allowed to participate and could have made the necessary amends to join. He challenged the rules, but the rules prevailed.”

In their initial response to this writer’s previous column detailing Yap’s complaint, PCBF posted a personal attack on this writer on their Facebook page, but took it down soon after. This writer was invited to join the amateur National Athletic Committee Philippines as an official in December, but this issue is not about that. After the previous column, The Star continued investigating the controversy. On this writer’s television program “Hardball” over the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) Monday evening, Yap admitted that the way he gained entry into the Arnold Classic may have been questionable.

In succeeding events, the IFBB’s organizers would benefit from having more stringent screening procedures. There is nothing more embarrassing than having a winner erased from the records for having been found to have violated the rules. Yap also alleged that, though the PCBF has strict rules on citizenship for participants, he alleged that the organization also endorsed two non-Filipinos to the same competition. The Star has asked Yap to prove these allegations. As to the tight timing of the protest called in by the PCBF to the Arnold Classic’s organizers, Gan sees nothing amiss in it.

“There was nothing personal involved and the timing was circumstantial at best. Notices were sent by PCBF officials as early as two months ago,” Gan claims.

Also in that previous column, this writer mentioned that the professional PCBF prevented Yap from competing in an amateur event at the Arnold Classic, and mentioned that perhaps the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Games and Amusements Board (GAB) should look into the matter and determine whose jurisdiction ends where. In open sports like basketball, the delineation between amateur and professional is clear. PSC is the governing body for national amateur teams; GAB oversees professional sports. PCBF is a pro organization, but Yap was competing in an amateur event.

“I welcome the opportunity for PSC and GAB to get involved so that we can explain our side of what happened as the duly affiliated national federation of the IFBB,” Gan says.

All organizers of professional sports organizations have to comply with the requirements of GAB, which may include providing work permits and medical clearances for foreign professional athletes competing in the country, such as in boxing, mixed martial arts and basketball. Bodybuilding should be no different. PCBF’s expressed willingness to explore and clarify provides a step in the right direction. What remains to be seen is the follow-through.