Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino – REQUESTER FILE PHOTO
Under Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino’s tenure as president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), the country won its first gold medal at the Summer Games.
And two more at the following Olympics.
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After winning another term as POC chief, he has a chance of winning a third consecutive gold medal at the Games – overwhelmingly, as expected.
“The General Assembly has spoken,” said Tolentino, who received 45 votes – 75 percent of the POC’s 621 voting members.
Baseball boss Chito Loyzaga, who challenged Tolentino, received only 15 votes.
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The group opposing Tolentino’s re-election had issued an injunction to stop the election, but none was issued and the vote went smoothly.
“I think performance was the basis (of the landslide victory),” Tolentino, the 60-year-old cycling chief, told reporters after the election.
Without any opposing candidates
Basketball’s Al Panlilio ran unopposed and received 53 votes. Rep. Richard Gomez led the race for second vice president, defeating Skateboarding’s Carl Sambrano 37-22.
“It’s not for me, it’s for the country, for the POC and for our athletes,” Tolentino said of his win, before emphasizing: “For the athletes, athletes, athletes.”
“We’re going to continue what we’ve been doing all along, which is taking really good care of our athletes,” Tolentino added.
He will have the support of his favorite “work team” as he leads the country’s bid to win gold again at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
Dr. Jose Raul Canlas (surfing) was also unopposed for treasurer with 54 votes and Donaldo Caringal (volleyball), who ran for internal auditor, received 47 points, beating Rodrigo Roque, who only had 12.
The one-sided victory of the Tolentino team was completed by the new board members Leonora Escollante (canoe-kayak, 45 votes), Alvin Aguilar (wrestling, 44 votes), Ferdinand Agustin (Jiujitsu, 41 votes), Alexander Sulit (judo, 41 votes) and Leah Gonzales (fencing, 40 votes).
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In addition to the 58 national sports federations, there were also two voters from the Athletes’ Commission and one from the International Olympic Committee, represented here by Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski. INQ