Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 16) – Four senators filed a motion to cite in contempt the board members of the Philippine Athletics and Track and Field Association (PATAFA) for failing to amicably settle their issues with Olympic pole vaulter EJ Obiena.
Senator Pia Cayetano, who spearheaded the Senate motion, said PATAFA board members disobeyed the upper chamber’s committee on sports order to mediate with Obiena after the national athletics federation filed a case before the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport last Feb. 11.
The Senate committee on sports issued the order during their hearing on Feb. 7, where the now Italy-based Obiena faced senators and disproved PATAFA’s allegations of embezzling funds and falsifying liquidation reports, especially in paying his Ukrainian mentor Vitaly Petrov.
“This is an act of bad faith, as PATAFA practically and effectively closed any possibility of amicable settlement with Obiena. PATAFA has clearly escalated the conflict by giving Obiena another problem that will distract him from his training and consume his time, efforts, and resources,” said Cayetano.
“This is not the way you treat a national athlete, and an Olympian at that,” added Cayetano, a former volleyball player and triathlete.
Senate President Tito Sotto and Senators Ping Lacson and Francis Tolentino also signed the motion led by Cayetano.
PATAFA president Philip Ella Juico and secretary general Rommel Sytin are among the 16 PATAFA board members who were cited in contempt by the Senate. The national athletics body’s chairman Rep. Rufus Rodriguez was not included as a matter of parliamentary courtesy.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Bambol Tolentino recently questioned the motive of PATAFA in elevating their standoff with Obiena to the international court.
“Where’s the good faith there? The POC thought they (PATAFA) were for mediation and even EJ already agreed to the procedure,” said Tolentino.
The PATAFA did not endorse Obiena in major tournaments this year such as the World Athletics Indoor Championships this weekend in Belgrade, Serbia; the 31st Southeast Asian Games in May in Vietnam; the World Pole Vault Championships in July; and the 19th Asian Games in September in Hangzhou, China.
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