Accountability, please
The biggest news that came out of the Senate hearing on the 20th Asian Games last Thursday wasn’t Tim Cone’s revelation about Justin Brownlee’s health status or Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino’s admission that there is no allotted budget for major international events that they are going to host next year.
Rather, it was Monico Puentevella’s exposé on politics in sports. And what was the name that first came out of his mouth the very moment he held the microphone?
Ramon “Tats” Suzara.
Suzara is perhaps the most controversial sports figure in the past 10 years. In fact, he was considered the architect of the success of the Philippine Superliga until it imploded in 2018 that led to the filing of qualified theft charges against him and Donaldo Caringal.
But no amount of controversy can stall his rise. The following year, he had his biggest break when Senator Alan Peter Cayetano tapped him to serve as chief operating officer of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee — the body tasked to organize the country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA).
Of course, Suzara and his group are singing praises over its success. But seven years after the flame of the P55-million cauldron had vanished, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) smelled something fishy about how P6.7 billion of government money was spent.
Fittingly branded as “Task Force Cash Cow,” the investigating team unearthed documents that implicated Phisgoc in the misuse of government funds. NBI director Melvin Matibag said there were evidence and testimonies of “triple-entry” payments on suppliers, unverified contracts, and possible ultra vires (unauthorized) acts. They are now wrapping up their probe and set to file cases against Phisgoc officials “before Christmas.”
But Suzara’s involvement in controversies didn’t end there. As executive vice president of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and president of the Asian Volleyball Confederation, he is being involved in the suspension of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) from the world-governing body after the group of Tonyboy Liao booted him out as PNVF chief in November.
It wasn’t Liao who paid the price for that suspension, though. It was the national athletes.
With the PNVF banned from the FIVB due to serious governance problems and multiple purported violations of its code of ethics, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission had no choice but to withdraw their support as well.
The POC assembled an ad hoc body to make sure that the athletes will still be seeing action in the Asian Games while the PSC froze its support for the federation, leaving Liao’s successor, business leader Frank Lao, facing the massive debt of P30 million and tons of headache.
Eventually, Alas Pilipinas Men skipper Bryan Bagunas went on record, saying that they haven’t received their allowances since July. Obviously, these poor athletes have become collateral damage to the politics played by the previous volleyball leaders.
Maybe that’s why Puentevella dropped his name during the Senate hearing. The octogenarian had seen enough, so he entered the Senate with guns blazing to bravely expose the reasons behind the suffering of Filipino athletes.
The NBI should really fast-track its investigation and file appropriate charges against those involved in the SEA Games scandal. Instead of filing the case before Christmas, it should do so before Halloween so the local sports community can finally welcome the year with a fresh start.
At this point, what we need is a government that is not afraid to hold sports officials accountable. If investigators find strong evidence of corruption or negligence, swift sanctions should follow, ensuring that Filipino athletes are not demoralized and future international hosting duties are not compromised.
The government should remember that our generational athletes — the Carlos Yulos, EJ Obienas, and Alex Ealas of this country — are fighting world-class battles on foreign soil. The least it can do is ensure that the judicial and investigative systems clear the local battlefield of the political friction waiting to derail them.