After getting branded as “incompetent” by a senator, the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) will be reverting to its tried and tested formula when it comes to procuring gears and apparels for its athletes competing in major international events.
NGAP secretary general Bones Floro told DAILY TRIBUNE that they will now be working directly with their own suppliers instead of relying on those endorsed by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) or the Philippine Sports Commission.
After all, the national golfers have their own brand preferences not just in apparel but also in their competition gear like headwears, bags, clubs and even gloves.
“We will revert to our standard and past practice of working directly with our suppliers, which had worked well in the past,” Floro said, a day after getting a dress down from Senator Raffy Tulfo during the post-Olympic evaluation conducted by the Senate Committee on Sports on Tuesday.
“If there is a sponsor providing uniforms for the entire delegation, we will ask to get our own competition gear that our athletes are comfortable with.”
Tulfo went hard on Floro’s failure to provide the needs of his athletes, including Dottie Ardina who competed without competition uniform during the Paris Olympics.
The neophyte lawmaker said the 30-year-old Ardina was forced to wear a tight competition uniform during the first round of the women’s stroke play event after the shipment containing the right sizes got held up at the French customs.
With that, Ardina decided to purchase her own apparel in Paris. She, however, had to attach a Philippine flag on her chest in every round to comply with the uniform requirement of the International Olympic Committee.
With that, she became a laughingstock of players from other countries, who were wondering what happened to her competition apparel in the biggest and most prestigious sports event in the world.
Tulfo ripped Floro, saying that his failure to provide Ardina and her fellow competitor, Bianca Pagdanganan, with proper competition attire is the height of his incompetence as a sport official.
“You were there to make sure that your athletes will have nothing to think of other than compete and bring honor to the country. So why did it happen? You had three years to prepare for this,” Tulfo said during the Senate session attended by Ardina’s mother, Gina, and a handful of local sports officials led by POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
“You should have contacted the French customs to have this sorted out. Now, everybody is laughing at us. They were humiliated when they represented their country without proper uniform and gear.”
Floro said he decided to purchase competition apparel in the French capital as part of his “Plan B” after the French customs held up the shipment from their official outfitter, Adidas. The plan, however, didn’t work out as the size was too small for Ardina, prompting her to wear her own competition attire after the first round.
Tulfo didn’t buy what Floro claimed as his “Plan B.”
“Yung Plan B nyo, palpak sir, incompetent po,” Tulfo said.
“I-N-U-T-I-L yung ilan sa mga kasama dyan na hindi ginagawa ang trabaho nila.”
Tulfo eventually excused himself from the session after getting news that his mom, Caridad, passed away.
Floro, however, is not yet off the hook as Committee on Sports chairperson Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go is expected to schedule another session.