THE Court of Appeals denied the motion of the former leadership of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) to overturn a Pasig City Court’s decision that allowed Ricky Vargas and Abraham Tolentino to run for the organization’s top two seats.
In a document released on Tuesday, the appellate court junked the petition of the camp of former POC President Jose Cojuangco Jr. to reconsider the holding of the special elections as it is “moot and academic.”
The dismissal also meant the end of the long and miserable legal battle as the court made the order in prejudice, putting the case “out of any objection as it is considered solved.”
Vargas, the elected president, was elated to hear the Court of Appeal’s decision and that he is on track to rebuilding the POC. “I am naturally heartened even as we were actually planning to file a petition to dismiss the case. But the fact that the Court of Appeals took it upon itself to render this decision with prejudice, I am more than delighted,” Vargas said.
“But honestly, I have long moved on and have been focusing on the tasks at hand. I look forward to seeking solutions to the many issues facing Philippine sports, and I hope everyone concerned will set the issues aside and work with us,” he added. “Our prayers have been answered, but we need to pray even harder,” Vargas concluded as he asked for more support.
The Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) ordered to hold elections on February 23 only for the positions of chairman and president of the POC as it found last November’s poll as “null and void.”
Cojuangco and his allies filed a temporary retraining order against the election, only to be dismissed by the Court of Appeals in its ruling in January.
In the turn of events, the POC elections committee, which had denied the candidacy of Vargas and Tolentino before, then allowed the two to run for the top posts.
As the General Assembly convened, Vargas won convincingly, 24-15, while Tolentino got 23-15 in the race for the position of chairman. The Court of Appeals saw the holding of the elections as a ground to suspend the case.
“The elections have thus effectively mooted the very issue raised by the petitioners. The conduct of elections, as well as the results, with both respondents being declared as winners, is a clear manifestation of the petitioners’ adherence to the RTC decision,” the order said.
“And, thereby, it puts an end to the controversy subject of his case. Hence, there no longer exists any justiciable controversy that call for the Court’s disposition,” it added.