Cojuangco mocks CA ruling

With the Court of Appeals affirming the election of Ricky Vargas as Philippine Olympic Committee president, former POC chief Jose “Peping” Cojuangco could be witty or mockingly playful in saying he now wants to amend the POC constitution to toe the line of the CA ruling.

Cojuangco yesterday claimed a precedent had been set after the appellate court junked his questioning a lower court ruling that ordered the POC to call for a special election last February.

Cojuangco, chairman of the POC constitutional revisions and amendments, said that since the local court had already asserted its authority over a purely private and autonomous body like the Olympic council, it might as well follow the court’s stance.

One of the amendments could be the removal of the required number of attendance in the general assembly meetings to whoever would like to seek the presidency and chairmanship of the POC.

That would open the top two positions as long as candidates secure the support of a simple majority in the 55-man general assembly, similar to Vargas’ strategy when he ran for POC presidency despite failing to meet the minimum number of attendance during POC general assembly meetings.

“The decision of the CA sets a bad precedent as far as the Olympic council is concerned,” said Cojuangco, adding that he expected the decision after the appellate court denied his petition for a temporary restraining order a week before the POC polls.

“Since the CA had already spoken, we might as well amend the POC charter in accordance to the rules of the lower court. Let us now allow everybody to run as POC president even without their ‘physical presence’ in the general assembly (meetings).”

Cojuangco, the equestrian chief who retained his seat in the POC executive council being the immediate past president, admitted that the possible amendment would bring chaos and confusion, though.

“If that happens, I can seek the POC presidency even if I’m not an NSA (national sport association) leader and has yet to attend a single general assembly meeting. And if the elections committee questions my candidacy, I can file a case in Tarlac and get a favorable decision,” said Cojuangco, who served as mayor of Paniqui and representative of 1st district of Tarlac.

“The election (last February) was clearly an order by the court and does not abide by the spirit of Olympism. It’s now going to be a precedent to anybody who wants to become a POC president or NSA leader for that matter.”

Cojuangco said he would raise the issue in the next POC executive council meeting.

In an eight-page decision penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh last June 28, the 10th Division of the CA dismissed Cojuangco’s petition for review of the Pasig RTC decision that called for a special election between Vargas and Cojuangco.

The appellate court said rendering a decision would be moot and academic since an election was already held last Feb. 23. Vargas won by a wide margin, 24-15.