Deputy chief of mission Robert Bachmann yesterday raised the possibility of the Philippines skipping the 18th Asian Games and dropping the hosting of next year’s Southeast Asian Games if the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) will stand pat on the non-release of earmarked budget for both events.

Bachmann claimed calling off the country’s Asian Games participation is not far-fetched with the PSC requiring the present POC leadership to liquidate the P10.3 million the past POC administration spent for tracksuits used by the athletes in the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

The Asiad is set in August in Indonesia.

The money was spent during the administration of former POC chief Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, whose officials reportedly claimed to have settled the amount with the PSC.

The PSC denied having received a full report on how the money was spent from Cojuangco’s group.

Because of this, the POC—now led by its new president Victorico Vargas—could not draw funds from the PSC.

The PSC refused to release the P6.5-million funding requested by Vargas for the country’s hosting of the Southeast Asian Games Federation council last month.

Sports commissioner Ramon Fernandez said the PSC Board has approved the request, but they could not release the fund after the Commission on Audit (COA) red-flagged the P10.3-million past budget.

In a POC board resolution dated Oct. 17, 2017 obtained by Tribune, it showed the POC returned a total of P10,320,000 to the PSC since it could not use the fund to pay the supplier after it discovered the purchase was reeking with irregularities.

A POC executive claimed that they will encounter some problems with the COA if they will allow the payment.

POC board member Cynthia Carrion was in-charge of the purchase of the tracksuits as 2017 SEA Games chief of mission.

The PSC, however, returned the money to the POC months after Vargas clinched the POC presidency. The PSC said the Olympic council has to submit a liquidation report to follow the rules of COA.

The government said it has no choice but to hold its funding, including the P72 million for the Asian Games, should the Olympic council fail to liquidate the amount.

“This is a big problem,” said the source, a member of the POC executive council and a known Cojuangco supporter. “We didn’t allow the purchase to proceed because we found some irregularities. We returned the fund, but the PSC wanted us to liquidate. It’s a big, big problem.”

Bachmann said the deadlock might hamper the athletes’ participation in the next two international events.

“If they will prove that we can’t work together, then what’s the point of sending a team to the Asian Games? We might as well cancel everything,” Bachmann told the Tribune.

“I think the POC will comply,” he said, adding that Asian Games chief of mission Richard Gomez is in close coordination with PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez to resolve the issue.

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