THE three-man election committee of the Philippine Olympic Committee deferred on its decision on the case of boxing chief Ricky Vargas after it received three more protest letters Friday.
Frank Elizalde, head of the election panel, said they are studying petitions which seek the disqualification of POC president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr., POC first vice president Jose Romasanta and POC chairman Tom Carrasco.
Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta wrote a petition concerning the bids of Cojuangco and Romasanta.
Araneta claimed that Cojuangco is no longer eligible to run for president under International Olympic Committee statutes, which has an age limit of 70 years.
Romasanta, on the other hand, is accused of forum shopping and leading two national sports associations, volleyball and karatedo.
Araneta also questioned the eligibility of IOC representative Mike Cojuangco-Jaworski’s eligibility to vote, because of conflicts of interest since his father is the POC president.
Elizalde said action on the protests won’t be done until next week, when he gets back from a trip to Switzerland. He said Araneta’s protest letter is lengthy and needs to be studied carefully.
Volleyball official Ricky Palou also questioned the status of Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas secretary general Peter Cayco as an eligible voter for LVPI since Romasanta is the president on record. Palou is the secretary general on record for LVPI.
The Vargas camp claimed that the provision involving his disqualification is not clearly stated in the constitution and bylaws of the POC.
Vargas was informed Thursday that the bare minimum requirement in running for one of the highest positions in the POC is attendance in majority of the general assembly meetings.
