Sunday, May 11, 2008 Ibuyan denies promising pugs Iloilo tournament
DAVAO City Councilor Edgar Ramos Ibuyan, also president of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (Abap) Davao City, denied on Friday allegations that he promised to send 20 boxers to the PLDT-Smart National Open, Youth and Women's Amateur Boxing Championships in Iloilo City.
"Wala ko nagpasalig nila. Naningakamot ko makapalarga sa mga bata ug ilahang mga trainors pero unsa pa man akong mahimo sa duha ka semana. Duha ka semana nalang usa magsugod ang torneyo usa pa nako mahibaw-an nga dunay national tournament ngadto sa Iloilo (I promised them nothing. I exerted all efforts to send the boxers and their trainors but I only had two weeks to look for funds for their trip. I only learned that there was a national tournament in Iloilo two weeks before it starts)," he told this reporter over the phone.
The former barangay captain of Bankerohan reacted on the story published on this paper Friday. In that story written by this reporter, Palarong Pambansa boxing gold medalists Engelbert and John Vincent Moralde were quoted to have said during the Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) Forum that Abap-Davao officials didn't keep their promise to send them to the Iloilo slugfest.
"It's very unfortunate. We were promised but we waited for nothing. We really wanted to compete in the National Open," said 15-year-old Engelbert.
This was even confirmed by Erlinda, mother of the two ace boxers, saying, "There were too much expectations. They underwent three months of rigid training, bearing two meals a day because they have to keep their weights only to be told there was no budget for them to go to Iloilo."
Ibuyan said: "I didn't receive any formal letter about the competition. Only Panabo received a letter from Abap. The boys' trainers were the ones who informed me about the Iloilo event and they did so with barely two weeks to go."
He also said no company can give donations to the team within two weeks citing that most corporations seek approval from their main offices in Metro Manila.
He said the City Government of Davao, through Sports Development Division of the City Mayor's Office under city sports coordinator Christopher "Bong" Go approved P10,000 support.
"But that's not enough so we have to look for other sources and time was running out. It was really impossible to raise the budgetary requirement for a delegation with 20 boxers in such limited time," he said.
Only boxers from Abap-Panabo of former solon Tonyboy Floirendo and Abap-Calinan of Davao City Third District Councilor Jose Louie Villafuerte competed in the just-concluded meet. (MLSA)
