OUT of compassion and as a gesture of goodwill, Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Butch Ramirez announced yesterday the PSC is extending financial aid to pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena although he still had to complete the liquidation of funds given by the government sports agency.
“In these extraordinary times, we are willing to bypass normal procedure,” Ramirez said in the first online session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association forum this year.
“Upon the request of EJ, we are sending him money for his knee surgery in coordination with PSC national training director Marc Velasco and his consultation with PSC physician Dr. Randy Molo,” Ramirez said.
Reports disclosed that Obiena has suffered a “minor” meniscus tear on his right knee, the same knee that suffered a career-threatening ACL injury in 2017 on the eve of his departure for the Malaysia Southeast Asian games.
Ramirez added they were also working on awarding the cash incentive that Obiena also asked for setting a new Asian men’s pole vault record of 5.93 meters in topping the Golden Roof Challenge in Innsbruck, Austria last September.
Obiena shattered the 29-year mark of 5.92 meters set by Igor Potapovich in an international meet held in Dijon, France in 1992.
Ramirez said he had talked with Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association Chairman and Deputy House Speaker Rufus Rodriguez, who said the Patafa is willing to certify the PSC’s moves so Obiena could get the much-needed aid.
The PSC had suspended all financial support to the embattled athlete since last August because he failed to submit a liquidation of the government funds that he was directly given for his pre-Olympic buildup, including the wages of his Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov.
Ramirez expressed the hope that the PSC’s actions would convince Obiena of the agency’s sincerity in their efforts to mediate in his dispute with the local track association.
