WITH only few days and a month left before the 25th Laos Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, sports leaders from various sectors are asking the bosses of the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission to stop their squabble.

Sepak Takraw President and Laos SEA Games Chief of Mission Mario Tanchangco, Perry Mariano of billiards and Philippine Volleyball Federation President Pedro Mendoza said on Friday that there should be unity among local sports leaders.

“Each day that passes by, everything is becoming worse,” said Tanchangco, referring to the raging conflict between Olympic committee President Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. and Sports commission Chairman Harry Angping that already spilled over to the legal battlefield.

“Innocent athletes and NSA [National Sports Associations] leaders who work devotedly for the country in trainings are being affected,” said Tanchangco. “We are hoping both leaders should settle this issue for our success in the SEA Games.”

Mariano, a prominent billiards manager, told The Manila Times that the political situation in Philippine sports has become “unbelievable” and the country’s campaign in SEA Games would be jeopardized if the issue is not resolved.

For the sake of billiards’ SEA Games bid, the two warring factions in the Billiards Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) led by Arturo Ilagan and Sebastian Chua have finally set aside their differences.
Mendoza of volleyball said the worsening conflict between Angping and Cojuangco is affecting the national athletes.

“We are hoping that they should end this fighting once and for all because the sports and the athletes are being affected by this,” said Mendoza, noting that SEA Games is actually the lowest level of international exposure for Filipino athletes.
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Arturo Macapagal of shooting, Errol Chan of badminton and Bong Coo of bowling also joined the call for unity among the country’s top sports leaders.         

JOSEF T. RAMOS