FOCUS ON ‘TAPAL-GATE’

The controversies that nearly stole the limelight away from the country’s historic participation in the Paris Olympics will be discussed when ranking local sports officials face the Senate Committee on Sports on Tuesday.

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go will lead the post-Olympic evaluation that aims to clarify the various issues that occurred during the Summer Games, including the controversial “Tapal-gate” in which the Filipina golfers were forced to compete without proper competition uniforms.

Expected to grace the 11 a.m. session are Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and a handful of national sports association leaders like Cynthia Carrion of gymnastics, Bones Floro of golf and Monico Puentevella of weightlifting.

‘This hearing is going to be explosive. May putukan dito.’

Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann was also invited but he is set to leave for the Paralympic Games in Paris on Tuesday. He, however, is expected to send his representatives in PSC executive director Paolo Tatad and sports commissioner Olivia “Bong” Coo.

Despite their historic performance that saw gymnast Carlos Yulo win two gold medals, the Filipinos’ participation in the Summer Games wasn’t smooth.

In fact, golfer Dottie Ardina took to social media her frustration about their lack of competition uniform that turned them into laughingstocks of other countries during the women’s stroke play event.

Without a competition uniform, Ardina and Bianca Pagdanganan had to patch the Philippine flag on their locally-bought attire every game so that they could comply with the requirements of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The POC and the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) admitted that the IOC disapproved the initial design of the competition uniform so they had to revise it with only a week before the opening ceremony on 27 July.

The uniforms were shipped by the apparel company but it was held at the French customs, prompting NGAP to purchase competition uniforms in Paris.

Unfortunately, the purchased uniforms don’t have the Philippine flag. Ardina and Pagdanganan eventually used their own apparel and attached the Philippine flag before their rounds.

Ardina and Pagdanganan, however, will not attend the Senate inquiry as they are already in the United States to compete in the FM Championships in Norton, Massachusetts from 29 August to 9 September.

“Dottie told me that she wants to see improvement in our preparation. She wants to see smooth coordination. We really have to improve our support to our athletes,” Go said after sitting down with Ardina last week.

“So that’s what we’re going to do. We will have a post-evaluation so that in the future, moving forward, we can improve our support to our athletes.”

Puentevella said they expect fireworks during the hearing.

“We want to get to the bottom of this. We want to know who dropped the ball,” said Puentevella, a former lawmaker and a seasoned sport official whose federation also suffered some hassles during the Summer Games.

“This hearing is going to be explosive. May putukan dito.”

But Go assured that the inquiry will not turn into finger-pointing.

“Our goal is not to blame each other,” Go, an avid sports fan who once served as delegation head of Gilas Pilipinas, said.

“What we want is to provide support to the athletes who are competing for the pride and glory of the country. Joining the Olympics or other major international competition is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We should provide them with all the support they deserve.”