Tagaytay Rep. Bambol Tolentino yesterday called for an extraordinary executive board meeting on Friday for his first order of business as the newly elected president of the Philippine Olympic Committee.
Among the agenda that will be tackled are appointments of new officers that include the secretary general, deputy secretary general, other committee chairmanship and the Chief of Mission for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Also expected to be discussed are the updates for the country’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games late November.
Tolentino stressed short-term goals as the new chief of the country’s highest Olympic body, reiterating that he only has 16 months until his tenure ends on Nov. 22 next year.
“My term is very short, but I will be a hands on president, so ang focus lang talaga natin are the SEA Games, the ASEAN Para Games and the Tokyo Olympics,” said Tolentino during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Amelie Hotel in Manila.
While athletes will be at the forefront of his program, Tolentino said he is also working on strengthening the working relationships of the leaders within the POC to make it “a harmonious working group.”
“Hopefully this will be a good start for the POC, kasi kapag hindi tayo united, mahirap,” said Tolentino.
After SEAG, Tolentino is likely to meet up with warring officials of various associations, saying he wants to put an end to all those disputes.
“That’s one of my priorities,” said Tolentino.
So far there are seven sports associations which are embroiled in tug-of-war and Tolentino is hoping it would be resolved the soonest.
And for the coming SEA Games, Tolentino is hoping that dancesports and other combat sports like arnis and will deliver big for the country.
‘I’m hoping they will deliver for us,” added Tolentino. (KRISTEL SATUMBAGA)
