KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.25 JUNE 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.25 JUNE 2011

The truth in the POC-GTK row

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one...” (2 Thessalonians 3:3, the Holy Bible).

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THE TRUTH IN THE POC-GTK ROW? Go Teng Kok was declared a “persona non grata” by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) not only because he sued the sports body on two occasions in violation of the POC Constitution, but more because of a series of “grave excesses” which the POC considered as sufficient bases to render him unfit to remain as a member or official of the POC.

This was made clear during the POC executive board meeting where Go, or popularly known as GTK, was “disowned” by the POC, and is in fact shown by the minutes of that board meeting (which meeting was considered a first at the POC because all its executive board members were present all at the same time---a phenomenon that rarely happened at the sports body).

Based on records coming from the POC, particularly the minutes of that fateful meeting of the POC executive board, it appears that Go Teng Kok was declared a “persona non grata” by the POC upon the vote of all its board members, including his known allies, after they tackled and were confronted with his alleged past excesses as a POC official.

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“COMPELLING REASONS TO DECLARE GTK PERSONA NON GRATA”: What were the supposed past excesses of GTK, entered into the minutes of the POC meeting, which prodded all its board members to disown Go Teng Kok and declare him a “persona non grata”? The minutes and the report of POC officials show the following:

First: The POC considered Go to have undermined efforts by the POC to unify the different sports sectors comprising the POC. This was allegedly due to his influencing the selection of leaders for wushu, billiards, basketball, table tennis, badminton, bowling, swimming, and volleyball.

Second: The POC considered Go to have influenced athletes to defy rules and policies promulgated by past POC officials. A case in point cited by the minutes and by my POC friends was Go’s alleged leading of a boycott of the Philippine National Games in Bacolod City, which resulted in the banning of the athletes that supported the boycott from the National Pool.

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“GTK VIOLATED POC CHARTER” AND MORE: Third: The POC found Go to have violated its Constitution by his having sued it twice, since it is the POC---not the courts---which is the final arbiter of disputes among national sports associations (NSAs) like the PKF. Because of this, the directive of the International Olympic Committee for POC to resist political, legal, religious, or economic pressures against the Olympic Charter was even disregarded.

Fourth: The POC found Go to have reneged on his own handwritten pledge to withdraw the first case he filed against the POC, and that while he had asked for arbitration to find an end to this first case, he nevertheless filed another case against the POC, this time to block the elections for PKF in Bacolod City.

Fifth: The POC found Go to have financially supported the election of convicted individuals as officials of NSAs; admitted that he operated a gambling den while he was president of the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association; and maintained close ties with someone awaiting deportation, as well as with illicit organizations abroad. Any reactions, Mr. Go Teng Kok?

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