Furor over forum
With no agenda to speak of, members of the Philippine Olympic Committee executive council formally declined the board meeting called by POC president Ricky Vargas on 17 June at the 10th floor of SM Aura Tower Offices in Taguig City.
In a letter sent to Vargas late Monday, the majority questioned the legitimacy of the board meeting since it doesn’t present any agenda and the venue is a known base of Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) chairman Alan Peter Cayetano, who is not part of the POC executive council.
Instead, auditor Jonne Go asserted in her letter that a regular board meeting should be held on 18 June at the POC headquarters in Philsports compound in accordance to what was initially agreed upon by eight of the 13 board members.
There’s a pressing need for the POC to hold a board meeting.
The POC board needs to sit down with Vargas to question him about his involvement in some SEA Games-related controversies, including the questionable deal with the official outfitter in the 30th Southeast Asian Games and inclusion in Phisgoc Foundation Inc., a body that aims to organized the biennial meet without board approval from the POC.
The POC board members invited Vargas to a meeting on 30 April, but he didn’t show up, prompting them to give him a five-day notice to explain his position.
But instead of shedding light, Vargas called a general assembly on 27 May, where he delivered an expletive-laced speech before recalling the appointment of key members of the executive council, including SEA Games chief of mission Monsour del Rosario, deputy chief of mission Charlie Ho and membership committee member Robert Bachmann.
He also slammed International Olympic Committee (IOC) representative Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski for meddling in the affairs of the local Olympic council. In fact, he reportedly reached out to the IOC to seek clarification on her role after she attended a meeting that Vargas branded as an attempt “to destabilize my leadership.”
To finally clear the air and reduce the growing friction, the POC board members sent POC secretary general Patrick Gregorio a letter on 6 June to inform him that they decided to have an 18 June meeting with Vargas in attendance.
But shortly after receiving the letter, Vargas and Gregorio came up with another letter, setting a separate meeting on
17 June with no agenda and questionable venue. “Please note that the secretary general did not attach
an agenda for the meeting and that the venue of the meeting, 10th floor SM Aura Tower Offices is at or near the office of Taguig government,” said auditor Jonne Go in a letter addressed to Vargas.
“We wish to be advised how the said POC executive board meeting will be conducted absent any agenda and the purpose of holding the meeting in the place abovementioned?”
According to Article 8 Section 4 of the POC constitution and by-laws, only the president or
a majority of its members upon written request addressed to the secretary general may call for a special meeting of the POC executive board.
In this instance, Vargas can call for a meeting. But without the support of the majority, the discussion would fail to achieve a quorum and
no significant resolution could be
passed.
On the other
hand, since
the POC board members have the majority — or eight of the 13 voting members — they can easily approve any resolution even without the POC chief in attendance.
“It is really important for
the POC president to attend
the meeting on 18 June,” said a prominent member of the board in lawyer Clint Aranas.
“He has been calling for unity, transparency and good governance. This is now his chance to sit down with
us and explain all these issues hounding our organization.”
