Monday, November 03, 2008 Olympic gold is just a matter of time By Manny Piñol
THERE is a new sense of hope and optimism that engulfs people involved deeply with amateur boxing with the ascension of new and respectable faces to the hierarchy of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (Abap).
There is sports patron Manny V. Pangilinan, owner of the country's largest telecommunications corporation, PLDT Smart, who assumes the chairmanship of the board of trustees, and his trusted ally, Ricky Vargas, who takes over the Abap presidency.
It is also expected that when the Vargas group takes over the ABAP in January next year, the grip of the Fortaleza cabal that choked the development of the sport due to favoritism and self-interest would finally come to an end with the appointment of Patrick "Pato" Gregorio as the new ABAP secretary general.
The presence of Manny Lopez as Abap vice president will hardly matter by then.
I am convinced that Ricky Vargas will not allow himself to become a stooge of Lopez because then he will have to reckon with his boss, the Abap chairman, MVP, as they call Manny V. Pangilinan through his initials.
The change that has long been dreamed of by those involved in amateur boxing simply because they love the sport is finally dawning.
Never mind the process used in effecting the changes. This is one instance where the Machiavellian doctrine of "the end justifies the means" takes a positive face.
You see, there was no way Pangilinan and his people would have qualified for the positions they occupy now had the old Abap rules on elections been followed to the letter. In fact, the Lopez group effectively blocked the effort to field former congressman Tonyboy Floirendo for the Abap presidency by refusing to acknowledge his election three years ago as Region 11 chairman.
But obviously what they did before the elections last Wednesday was to convene the 17-man board of trustees of Abap and amend its by-laws creating three more board of trustee seats which they gave to Pangilinan and Vargas, representing the private sector and Philippine Sports Commission Chairman (PSC) chairman Butch Ramirez as Region 11 representative.
With the amendment approved and adopted, the elections were held and voila! we now have a new leadership in the Abap.
That deft maneuver speaks of the kind of leadership Lopez wielded in the Abap -- invoke the rules when they protect his turf (as when they shut the door on Floirendo) and bend the rules when his interests are at stake (as in bargaining for the position of vice president just so he would qualify to run for vice president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).
Thank God that kind of leadership has finally found its end.
I talked to Ricky Vargas by phone facilitated by Pato Gregorio and I heard from the other end of the line the voice of a person who seemed eager to learn rather than ready to impose.
His first move? To call all amateur boxing stakeholders to a consultation in Bacolod City in December shortly before the 2nd National Open for this year sponsored by PLDT Smart to learn from them and chart a new and reinvigorated direction for amateur boxing in the country.
This is the trait of a person, call him a leader, who realizes that the position that he has now does not give him the license to assume that he alone knows what it takes to realize the cherished dream of a people for the first Olympic gold.
People who think that as leaders they alone have the intellect to determine what is right become despots. And despots have always failed and been thrown to the wastebasket of society.
With the vast resources of PLDT Smart, all that Pangilinan and Vargas need now to win the Olympic gold is to reach out to people who really love the sport, launch a national search program, upgrade the capabilities of local trainers, and implement a national training program for young talents who have the potentials to be Olympians.
At the national level, it would be good if the ABAP leadership could convince Malacañang to issue an Presidential Order directing the different Regional Development Councils (RDC) to adopt amateur boxing as a priority sports program with the aim of winning the Olympic gold.
When these things are done, it will just be a matter of time when we hit the bull's-eye.
It could happen in 2012 or maybe 2016. But with the right aim, sufficient bullets, and a target shooter who draws energy and inspiration from the fact that the crowd is supporting him are all that we need to realize that national dream of winning our first gold in the Games will not be a matter of luck but just a matter of time.
