Joaquin “Chito” Loyzaga wants to work closely with the Philippine Sports Commission if he gets the chance to win the presidency of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).

Loyzaga, the president of the Philippine Amateur Baseball Association, stressed that having a solid relationship with the PSC will serve as the key to an honest-to-goodness elite sports program.

With that, he aims to forge stronger ties with the government funding arm for sports if ever he emerges victorious over incumbent POC chief Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino in the POC polls set on 29 November at the East Ocean Restaurant in Pasay City.

Loyzaga’s goal is very easy to realize.

Aside from being a former PSC commissioner and executive director under the leadership of chairman Ricardo “Richie” Garcia from 2010 to 2012, Loyzaga is also said to have a very good personal relationship with the incumbent PSC chief, Richard “Dickie” Bachmann.

In fact, he considers the PSC boss as his family friend with his father, the legendary Carlos Loyzaga, having a very good relationship with Bachmann’s father in basketball great Kurt Bachmann.

Bachmann’s older brother, Robert Bachmann of squash, is also running as POC second vice president under Loyzaga’s ticket.

“If given the chance, we look forward to working closely with the PSC through the leadership of Chairman Bachmann and the other commissioners on how we can really expand the training and development of the athletes whether they are participating in the Southeast Asian Games, Asian (SEA) Games, or the Olympics or in their respective international world competitions,” Loyzaga said.

“As a leader of an organization, especially the POC, you always establish a very good and harmonious relationship with the PSC because it will definitely have an effect on the performance of our athletes.”

Aside from Bachmann, Loyzaga will also be running with Rodrigo Roque of gymnastics as auditor, and Rommel Miranda of kurash, Charlie Ho of netball, Peter Miguel of archery, Derek Arthur Ramsay of gymnastics, and Steven Cezar Virata of equestrian as members of the executive board.

They will go up against Tolentino and his “Working Group” composed of Alfredo “Al” Panlilio as first vice president, Richard Gomez of fencing as second vice president, Donaldo “Don” Caringal of volleyball as auditor and Alvin Aguilar of wrestling, Alexander “Ali” Sulit of judo, Ferdinand “Ferdie” Agustin of jiu-jitsu, Leonora Escollante of canoe-kayak and Leah Jalandoni Gonzales of fencing as members of the executive board.

Loyzaga, however, is fresh from leading the national squad in the BFA East Asia Cup in Pampanga in which it won its fifth straight title following a 9-2 win over Hong Kong.

The former basketball star sees the victory not as a personal achievement but as a privilege to serve the Philippines in major sporting events.

“Whether it was Cambodia or here, it’s always an honor to represent our country,” Loyzaga, also an incumbent POC auditor, said.

“For me, this is a very good experience for me and I’ve always cherished every experience that I’ve been given the opportunity to represent the country.”