THE athletics association dropped Ernest John “EJ” Obiena from the national pool effective immediately on Tuesday and filed criminal charges of estafa against the Olympic pole vaulter currently ranked No. 6 in the world.
And all hell began to break loose.
Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) President Dr. Philip Ella Juico and Chairman Rep. Rufus Rodriguez announced in an online press conference that Obiena was dropped from the pool and at the same time would be facing charges of estafa and misappropriation of Patafa funds.
Also, the Patafa filed a complaint before the World Athletics—the sport’s world-governing body—against legendary pole vault coach Vitaly Petrov of Ukraine on his “violation of the Integrity Code of Conduct” and ordered for the “immediate termination of his engagement from the country’s athletics body.”
The charges didn’t stop there as the Patafa outlined six action items it would undertake against Obiena, Petrov, his American sports patron James Lafferty and the Asian record holder’s mom, Jeanette Obiena.
“The report has brought so much sadness and feelings of betrayal. Now, he [Obiena] has to face the consequences,” Juico said in the press conference. “But we have to face the challenge because we should account for all the funds, government and private, given we have a responsibility over showing all moral [and] ethical considerations.”
The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) also on Tuesday stressed that it expected the Patafa’s actions on Obiena.
“The action of Mr. Juico in removing EJ Obiena from the national pool is an expected result of his exposé, a vengeful act that shuts down the chances of the Philippines from its Olympic dream,” Tolentino said.
“The POC has made an early evaluation of this and I’m sorry that we can’t make our cards public,” he said. “Suffice it to say that we are created for the Olympic dreams of our athletes and we will support our athletes in achieving their dreams.”
The criminal complaint for estafa was in relation to the 6,000 euros (P360,000) which the Patafa said Obiena didn’t pay Petrov for his services from May to August 2018.
The Patafa also declared Lafferty persona non grata, on top of what the association said was Obiena’s misappropriation of 61,026.80 euros (P3,661,608) as payment for Petrov which were not released as of August 2021.
Jeanette Obiena was also charged for her alleged misappropriation of P624,116.76, which the Patafa said she claimed under the pretext of reimbursement with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) on Petrov’s coaching fees from January to March 2019.
“The [Patafa] board has accepted all the recommendations of the administrative committee that includes removing the 26-year-old young man, who knew the consequences of what he was doing as he repeatedly produced those spurious documents,” Juico said.
Juico said the PSC and Commission on Audit would be provided with copies of the documents.
POC, SOLONS STAND BY OBIENA
PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee (POC) President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said the body would campaign behind Ernest John “EJ” Obiena in his overseas competitions.
“We in the POC will make sure EJ will be in Hanoi and Huangzhou and in all other major world competitions, we’ll fight for EJ,” said Tolentino, referring to the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam in May and the 19th Asian Games in China in September.
“In the absence of an endorsement from a national federation, the organizer or host has a prerogative to allow embattled athletes to compete,” he sad. “The IOC [International Olympic Committee] allows refugee athletes to compete in major international competitions [including Olympics].”
“Of course, the NSA [national sports association] has the right to recommend or not, endorse or not, its athletes for international competitions, but there’s a provision in the IOC Charter allowing NOCs to endorse athlete,” he added.
The PSC, Tolentino said, is also mandated to protect the welfare of national athletes.
“The ball is now with the PSC—will the PSC allow EJ to be stricken off from the national team? Will the government allow a world-class athlete to be out of the national team?” he said.
Tolentino said that Republic Act 6487, the law that created the PSC, mandates the agency in sub-paragraph (n) of Section 7 “to exercise such other acts as are incident to or are appropriate and necessary in connection with the creation of the Commission.”
“Will the PSC turn its back on this mandate? I don’t think so,” he said. “This is precisely why the PSC is created. To act as the final caretaker of athletes when an oppressive NSA is apparently shutting its doors to world-class athletes.
Tolentino added: “Will sports stakeholders—the public, especially—allow EJ to be out of the national team?”
Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Senator Richard Gordon said “they have made the situation a goldfish bowl. [A] politically infected investigation. Quiet but resolute investigation must be conducted to get firm but fair conclusions.”
Gordon added: “Let the ax fall where it may or must. Assuming there are guilty or embarrassing scenarios resulting from them, all the parties must provide a disciplinary response, not necessarily a fatal one that kills or embarrasses any party, but shows we can act or enforce disciplinary measures upon all without burning the house down.”
“You don’t not burn the whole house to kill rats,” he stressed.
Deputy Speaker Eric Martinez (Second District, Valenzuela City) appealed to public not to judge and malign Obiena right away after his recent rift with Juico and the Patafa.
“We should not jump to conclusions right away without a hint of due process involved in resolving this issue,” Martinez said. “We do not treat a world-class Filipino athlete like that, he is the future of Philippine athletics.”
“The highly-respected Ukranian coach even mentioned that he did not initiate any complaint against Obiena and understands that the delay on the release of his coaching fees is not the pole-vaulter’s responsibility,” added Martinez, a former chairman of House Committee on Youth and Sports Development.
Manila Second District Rep. Rolando Valeriano, on the other hand, called for a congressional inquiry on the harassment of Obiena, who hails from Tondo.
“Where do these Patafa people get their boastfulness? Do they think of themselves as gods who will simply oust the world No. 6 pole vaulter and an Olympian like EJ Obiena?” Valeriano said.
“Juico’s basis for this expulsion is that EJ allegedly misappropriated his coach’s salary. This, even though there is no evidence for it, as his coach even made a signed statement that he was fully paid,” he said. “It is clear here that Juico and other Patafa officials just want to show that they can do whatever they want. They don’t care if their actions will affect the welfare of Philippine sports.” With Butch Fernandez and Jovee Marie Dela Cruz