THE parents of a taekwondo athlete who was disqualified to play in the 2017 Central Visayas Athletic Association (Cviraa) have filed a complaint with the Department of Education (Deped) Cebu City Division.
In the complaint dated Feb. 15, the parents of 13-year-old Alyssa Lou Llenes want Deped to investigate the disqualification, saying there was manipulation by officials.
Llenes, a gold medalist in the Cebu City Olympics, failed to undergo the screening and interview for the athletes, a rule implemented by Deped Central Office.
“We have accepted that Alyssa was not able to make it to Cviraa. However, some circumstances leading and following her disqualification were very suspicious and there seemed to be hints of manipulation by coaches and/or officials,” read part of the complaint letter.
DepEd Cebu City sports coordinator Zenaida Gocotano told SunStar Cebu that she was already informed that there was a complaint filed. She said that a hearing on the issue will be done in the office of Cebu City Division Superintendent Bianito Dagatan.
“I and the parents will meet at the office. It’s their right and free will to file a complaint. I will just answer the complaint and bring all the memos and orders that I released for the screening and interview,” said Gocotano.
“Their child was disqualified because she was not able to go to the screening, an order by the DepEd Central Office,” said Gocotano. “All of the athletes coming from USC-Bed made it to the screening except her.”
In the complaint, the parents said Llenes took a practical exam on Jan. 25 so they requested for another schedule. But on her next schedule, Feb. 9, they were told that the officials were already in City of Naga.
Llenes father, Val Jonathan, alleged that her daughter was replaced with another player in the Category 4 event.
“If a player is not screened you can’t really play. It’s the rule of the Central Office. The disqualified player was not replaced by another player,” said Gocotano.
However, the parents said in the letter that their child was indeed replaced.
“To check, we sent someone to Naga...We were surprised to discover that contrary to Gocotano’s statement, a player did replace Alyssa,” they said in the letter.
“We share DepEd’s mission in making sports a part of our child’s life. But we hope we don’t expose and victimize them with corrupt practices through sports. If anybody is guilty in this case, we hope they will be exposed and penalized to discourage such practices in the future,” the Llenes couple said in their complaint.