By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Claiming EJ Obiena is a great source of pride being a world class athlete, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) included the controversial pole vault on Team Philippines’ entry by names list that will be submitted to organizers of the Vietnam 31st Southeast Asian Games.
“EJ’s name must be there,” POC president Bambol Tolentino said Friday. “Logic plays a major role here for the need to include him in the SEA Games list, this is sports and he’s a national sports pride.”
The POC deemed it was best for the country to include Obiena in the list, believing the Asia’s No. 1 pole vaulter can win his event even blindfolded.
With Obiena’s ongoing rift between with his mother association, the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa), his name was excluded in the list.
Patafa reasoned out that it can’t endorse Obiena in several big time events since there’s still an ongoing mediation which was initiated by the Philippine Sports Commission.
Obiena’s national and Asian record of 5.93 meters is far better than his golden performance at the 2019 SEAG where he posted the Games record of 5.45m.
His current indoor season-best of 5.91m further boosted his chances of retaining his SEAG crown.
The POC, Tolentino said, has already written the World Athletics, the sport’s world governing body headed by running legend Sebastian Coe, on Obiena’s predicament.
A similar case happened in 1985 when the POC had to intervene on former Asia track queen Lydia de Vega’s inclusion on the national team for the Asean Cup that tje country hosted at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The late Governor Jose Sering was then the acting Patafa president in lieu of the suspended Michael Keon. De Vega refused to join the national team training at Teachers Camp in Baguio City and was disciplined by her national sports association.
