MANILA -- “This isn’t over,” sounded off basketball legend Ramon Fernandez who is currently one of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) commissioners.

Fernandez was referring to the re-election of Jose “Peping” Cojuangco as Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president for the fourth time.

Cojuangco ran unopposed after Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines (ABAP) president Ricky Vargas was disqualified from the race. ABAP sought a temporary restraining order to halt the elections but the Pasig City Regional Trial Court denied their petition.

• READ: Cojuangco wins 4th term as POC president

Seeking wholesale change to Philippine sports, Fernandez, himself a former national athlete, declared his unhappiness surrounding the re-election of Cojuangco and the disqualification of Vargas.

“Peping missed his chance to be on the right side of history by choosing to desperately cling to power notwithstanding strong and unmistakable calls for change in the POC leadership,” said Fernandez.

“By doing the unfair and unpatriotic act of hiding behind the skirt of technicalities, Peping and his minions killed freedom and democracy in Philippine sports. From my understanding of PSC's mandate, its direct partners are the NSAs. PSC funds the athletes' training, allowances, incentives, etc. The POC only certifies, approves the composition of the team members of the NSAs that will be sent to the games under the auspices of the IOC.”

Fernandez said the PSC will pursue the unliquidated monies given to the POC since 2005 that amounts to over P27 million.

“And that’s just for the 2005 Southeast Asian Games. There are more unliquidated events. And if you check the Olympic Solidarity website (stillmed.olympic.org), it is stated that the International Olympic Committee provided 185 national Olympic committees a total of US$22 million. The POC also received something from that amount. What did they do with that money?” he asked.

The financial assistance of the IOC has gone up with every staging of the Summer Olympics. The packages vary in amount for each region and for each country.

The budget is to be divided into four areas – the promotion of Olympic values, NOC management coaches' training, and athletes’ training and scholarships.

“As a former national athlete, I think I have the right to ask and know what happened to all the money that is given not only from the IOC but also from the PSC?” wondered Fernandez. “They always say, ‘walang pera’ but there is money. So what happened to it?”

With regards to other matters, the PSC commissioner stated support for NSA and athletes although with a caveat. “We will also provide financial support to the NSAs that are not only performing well but also are run professionally,” he said.

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