MANILA, Philippines – Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino claimed a sweeping victory to secure a fresh four-year term as president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) following the elections on Friday, November 29, at the East Ocean Palace in Parañaque.
Tolentino of cycling retained his post after dominating challenger Joaquin “Chito” Loyzaga of baseball, earning the nod of 45 out of 61 voters.
Loyzaga, a former basketball star who is among the 40 Greatest PBA Players, received only 15 votes.
“The general assembly has spoken. I think the performance was the basis,” said Tolentino. “This is not for me, this is for the POC, for the country, and for the athletes.”
It marked the third time Tolentino got elected as president after he won the special elections in 2019 to take over the remaining term left by Ricky Vargas, who resigned from his position.
Tolentino then won his reelection bid in 2020.
With the POC under the leadership of Tolentino, the country scored historic triumphs in the last two Summer Games.
Weightlifting star Hidilyn Diaz clinched the Philippines’ first-ever Olympic gold in the Tokyo Games in 2021, while gymnastics ace Carlos Yulo became the Philippines’ first double Olympic gold medalist in the Paris Games this year.
“We will continue what we’ve started,” said Tolentino.
Also retaining their posts were first vice president Al Panlilio of basketball and second vice president Richard Gomez of modern pentathlon.
Panlilio ran unopposed and earned 53 votes, while Gomez beat Carl Sambrano of skateboarding, 37-22.
Sambrano came in as a replacement after Robert Bachmann of squash withdrew his candidacy the day prior.
Also unopposed, Jose Raul Canlas of surfing won as treasurer with 54 votes and Don Caringal of volleyball won as internal auditor, defeating Rod Roque of weightlifting, 47-12.
It was a sweep for the Tolentino camp, with Leonora Escollante of canoe-kayak, Alvin Aguilar of wrestling, Ferdinand Agustin of jiu-jitsu, Ali Sulit of judo, and Leah Gonzalez of fencing named as executive board members.
There were supposed to be 62 voters, but rugby football was not represented.
Out of the 61 voters, 58 were national sports associations, while three were individual voters: pole vaulter EJ Obiena and boxer Nesthy Petecio representing the Athletes’ Commission and Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski representing the International Olympic Committee. – Rappler.com