Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) – The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) questioned the motive of Philippine Athletics and Track and Field Association (PATAFA) president Philip Ella Juico in elevating the federation’s case against Olympic pole vaulter EJ Obiena to the international court.
“So what happened to the truce forged through the Senate? The mediation that both parties Obiena and the PATAFA agreed on before our honorable senators?” POC president and Cavite Rep. Bambol Tolentino said in a statement.
The POC Executive Board convened in a special meeting on Wednesday to discuss the case filed by Juico against Obiena and the national Olympic committee before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last Feb. 11.
Juico elevated the complaint four days after the Senate committee on sports conducted a hearing on Obiena’s grievances to the national athletics federation, resulting in both parties agreeing to undergo mediation.
The PATAFA chief included POC in his case, citing the national Olympic body’s breach of jurisdiction in their issue with Obiena. Juico also stated it was illegal for the POC to dismiss the case Obiena filed through the POC Athletes Commission and requested the organization to withdraw the persona non grata declaration slapped against him.
RELATED: POC officially declares PATAFA chief persona non grata
“Where’s the good faith there? The POC thought they (PATAFA) were for mediation and even EJ already agreed to the procedure,” said Tolentino.
“Filing a complaint against Obiena and the POC means the PATAFA is included in the complaint because PATAFA is a member of the organization,” the POC president added.
The POC Executive Board authorized Tolentino to hire a lawyer and a CAS juror for their defense.
POC chief legal counsel Atty. Wharton Chan said the national Olympic committee should not be a respondent in the case filed by Juico before the CAS since it is formed as a corporate body, not a judicial one, and the focal issue of their persona non grata declaration to the PATAFA chief was his “attitude and unethical conduct” on dealing with Obiena’s complaints.
The rift between Obiena and PATAFA started after the national athletics body accused the Olympic pole vaulter of embezzling funds for his training and falsifying liquidation reports, especially in paying his Ukrainian mentor Vitaly Petrov.
Obiena denied PATAFA’s accusation, but he admitted paying Petrov late due to his busy schedule in training and tournaments. He also blasted PATAFA for neglecting his concerns while training alone in Italy, saying he even shouldered the bank transfer fees just to pay Petrov’s salary.
Aside from the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Philippine Sports Commission intervened in the conflict but failed to convince Obiena and PATAFA to mediate on their issues.
Juico recently said Obiena would not be part of the national athletics team for the 31st Southeast Asian Games, despite the 25-year-old pole vaulter winning two titles out of the five tournaments he competed to open his 2022 season last month.
