THE new Philippine Olympic Committee Executive Board will have a full agenda when it holds its first board meeting today at the East Ocean Palace Restaurant in Paranaque City.
The meeting is set at 10:30 a.m. and is expected to be attended by the entire 14-man board. Those who cannot attend personally can join the meeting via online.
Among the items on the agenda is the status on the liquidation of the P500 million financial support the local Olympic body received from the Philippine Sports Commission to purchase equipment for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
Making up the new board are POC president Rep. Bambol Tolentino, chairman Steve Hontiveros, who will preside over the meeting; first vice president Al Panlilio, second vice president Richard Gomez, treasurer Cynthia Carrion, auditor Chito Loyzaga and board members Dave Carter, Dr. Raul Canlas, Pearl Managuelod and Atty. Charlie Ho.
Retained was Atty. Ed Gastanes, an appointee of Tolentino, as secretary general, while Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, a member of the International Olympic Committee Executive Board and the IOC’s representative to the Philippines, and triathlete Nikko Huelgas, a member of the POC Athletes Commission complete the board.
Panlilio, the finance committee head, will discuss the POC’s financial status and proposed budget for the year.
Tolentino’s proposal for the more than century-old sports institution to have its own building is also on the list of matters that will be prominently discussed.
Also to be taken up are the appointments of chiefs of mission to the country’s other scheduled international meets outside of the Tokyo Olympic Games, which has een rescheduled to July 23 to Aug. 8 in the Japanese capital due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Philippine Football Federation president Mariano Araneta Jr. will be the chief of mission of the national delegation that will bid to break the country’s 97-year-old gold dry spell in the quadrennial global sports festival.
Aside from the Olympics, Tolentino said in last week’s PSA forum that the other POC-sanctioned Philippine commitments this year are the 6th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games from May 21 to 30 in Bangkok and Pattaya, Thailand; the 4th Asian Youth Games set Nov. 20-28 in Shantou, China; and the 31st SEA Games slated Nov. 21 to Dec. 2 in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Tolentino said there would be some key changes in the composition of the POC’s various commissions, which is also on the agenda, while golf secretary general Bones Floro, the POC membership and accreditation chairman, will also report on the elections conducted by some NSAs in 2020.
