A man has his photo taken at the one-year countdown clock to the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Aug. 18, 2017. AP GOMEZ ON ASIAD TRIP

The possibility of the Philippines’ non-participation in the coming 18th Asian Games is imminent and real yesterday said Asiad chief of mission Richard Gomez.

Gomez, also the Ormoc City mayor and national fencing association head, called on President Rodrigo Duterte to step into the fund deadlock between the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) to guarantee that Filipino athletes could take part in the quadrennial meet set Aug. 18-Sept. 2 in Indonesia.

The PSC is the government’s funding arm for sports. The PSC Chairman holds the rank of an undersecretary under the Office of the President.

The POC, meanwhile, is a non-government organization recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and all other sports councils under it, to organize sporting events and send athletic contingents to all the events it sanctions like the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Games.

The current deadlock between the PSC and the POC, however, is hampering all buildup by the national sports associations under the POC, as the PSC could not release the P72 million needed to fund the Philippine participation in the pan-Asian multi-sport event.

“The issue is simple: If the PSC will not fund our participation in the Asian Games, then we will not send a team to Jakarta. If it funds the game, then it’s a go,” said Gomez.

“But we appeal to President Duterte to step into this issue and save our athletes’ participation in the Asiad,” Gomez said. “The president has power over the PSC. He would not abandon our athletes, especially with the Asian Games now almost here. He is our last hope.”

The Philippines is a founding member of the Asian Games since 1951. The country has been competing in all Asiad editions since then and even hosted the second Asian Games in Manila in 1954 after the inaugural meet in New Delhi, India in 1951.

Gomez is to meet with PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez to discuss ways to fund the Philippine team amid the PSC’s strong stance against releasing the P72-million budget due to a still unliquidated P10.3 million incurred during the previous Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur.

That money was given to the administration of former POC president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, who was ousted last February after a court-ordered election that paved the way to boxing chief Victorico Vargas’ win via majority vote.

The fund was used to purchase competition uniforms and track suits, which a PSC source claimed were “questionably priced” way above higher than the normal market price.

Fernandez said a meeting with Gomez, his deputies Manny Cabili and Robert Bachmann, should happen soon before they can start procuring equipment, competition uniforms, airline tickets and other basic needs of the athletes.

He said it takes nearly a month before government could choose a winning bidder and another month is given to the winning company to produce tracksuits, competition uniforms, bags and luggage.

“The ball is in their court,” said Fernandez, acting PSC chairman in lieu of PSC boss William “Butch” Ramirez.

“(Government) bidding process usually takes three months. We only have two months left before the Asian Games. We need to discuss this with Richard (Gomez),” said Fernandez.

Gomez, however, reiterated he had an earlier agreement with Ramirez and said he hopes the PSC will honor Ramirez’s commitment.

Ramirez is serving a three-month suspension by the Sandiganbayan.

“We agreed that they will just give us the fund and we will procure (materials) since private procurement is easier than government procurement. It’s just a matter of sitting down with them to clear things up,” said Gomez.

Aside from the Asian Games, the Philippines’ hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games set next year in Clark and Subic north of Manila is also in peril.

The PSC refused to fund earlier activities related to the SEA Games preparations due to the same issue of the POC’s unliquidated expenses.

While this could be the first time the Philippines would not be seeing action in the Asiad, veteran sports official Steve Hontiveros said the POC had spent for the athletes’ participation in international games twice in the past.

Hontiveros recalled the PSC, then under Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Aparicio Mequi, had refused to fund the country’s participation in the 1993 SEA Games after a spat with former POC chief Gen. Rene Cruz.

The POC also partly funded its participation in the 2009 SEA Games, with PSC chief Harry Angping acknowledging to finance just 153 members of the national delegation.

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