Telenovela

     The amount of intrigue between the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation (PDBF) team and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) rivals that of our most watched telenovelas, but unlike them, this sporting controversy is not so clear-cut.

Who

Dragon Warriors: Victims?

     In most telenovelas, the audience knows who the protagonists and antagonists are, but in this case, it is muddled.  Are the PDBF rowers (Dragon Warriors) the victims and the POC, led by Chairman Peping Cojuangco the evil overlords?  Many are quick to point out yes, but the POC's recent media blitz is turning the tide.

     Here's the thing. First things first. What the POC did last year to the Dragon Boat Federation was pure crap.  If you need a blow by blow, I wrote about it here.  That clearly establishes the Dragon Warriors were victimized at least once and that also proves the POC has clearly been in the wrong.

     The more recent fight, though, is a lot less clear.  Dragon Warriors are certainly victims in the sense that they had no financial support from the POC and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), but the government, especially the PSC, is innocent here.  Under law, the PSC provides money only to the national teams, whose accreditation comes from the POC. (Why the spending of government money is dictated by a small private company is beyond me, but it's the law) This means that since the PBDF is not considered by the POC as a national team, they were not entitled to funding.  Now, PSC chairman Richie Garcia is as slimy as brown-nosers get, but this time he is not wrong.  The POC, meanwhile, is a different story.  The story gets sticky because of a memo from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

What

     According to the POC, the IOC required (synonyms include mandated, forced) all countries to place Dragon Boat Federations under the Canoe and Kayak Associations. POC claims they had no choice but to move the PDBF or the country might face sanction and suspension.  On the other hand, the PDBF claims the IOC memo actually stated that countries may choose (country's prerogative, not required) to place Dragon Boat under Canoe and Kayak.  PDBF refused to be moved to the Philippine Canoeing and Kayaking Federation (PCKF); hence they were not recognized by the POC.

Why

     It begs the question then why both sides are insisting on fighting over this memo when the simpler thing is to compromise? 

     For the PBDF, it boiled down to two things.  One, moving under the PCKF meant that the current PDBF coaches will be not retained, for whatever reasons not made public.  Second, all International Dragon Boat races require that the teams be recognized by an accredited Dragon Boat Federation.  In the Philippines, that would only be the PDBF and not the PCKF.  Now, my only question is, wouldn't moving the PDBF into the PCKF mean that the PCKF can also be accredited by the International Dragon Boat Federation?

     For the POC, the reasons are quite murky, until you add creative thinking and deductive reasoning.  I have not hidden my disdain for the POC led by Cojuangco so a grain of salt must be taken with this following explanation.  First, the PBDF moving to PCKF means one less National Sports Association and one less vote in the POC elections.  The PCKF has always voted for the side of Cojuangco while the PDBF has not.  Think what you will.  Second, in their darkest hour, the Dragon Warriors found their savior in Cobra and PAL and were welcomed home in the Century Park Sheraton, all companies owned by magnate Lucio Tan.  Word from the grapevine is that someone helped the Dragon Warriors out with some introductions.  That someone is former PSC Chairman Harry Angping, whose term in PSC was highlighted by his strong stands against what he believed were wrong POC moves.  Again, think what you will.  

How

Cojuangco: Holding Aces

     President Aquino has stated that he would look into the matter, but it might not be a good idea.  Cojuangco holds two aces.  One and he has done this before, Peping can claim that anything Aquino does is political, snitch to the IOC and the IOC will suspend us if governments intervene in IOC affairs.  Second, removing Peping from sports gives him more free time to meddle in political matters.  During last year's campaign, Cojuangco volunteered to campaign for Aquino, but Aquino cringed at the idea.  He knows his uncle and the trail of bad publicity that follows him so he asked Cojuangco to back off.  That didn't stop Cojuangco from campaigning, which resulted in the whole "Noy-Mar" "Noy-Binay" controversy in Peping's native Tarlac.  It's not beyond belief that the best move for the PNoy is to get Peping out of his thinning hair by keeping him occupied in sports.  It won't be too surprising if the POC continues to have its way.  As much as I love sports, the country is a lot less worse if Peping meddled in sports and not congress, housing, land reform, poverty, agriculture or energy.

When

     As much as they are different, though, this Dragon Boat controversy and good telenovelas have something in common.  Both will last for quite some time since a resolution is either nowhere to be found or the resolution itself could open an even bigger can of worms for our struggling country.  We need to find a way to protect our athletes' and nations' interests, grab a hold of the problem and punch it smack on the chin.