When it all appeared that a mediation was just a heartbeat away, the Philippine Olympic Committee yesterday said that tomorrow’s election of the Philippine Lawn Tennis Association has been postponed.
A new date has yet to be agreed upon but lawyer Charlie Ho, assigned by the POC to handle the leadership crisis in the Philta, feels there’s something fishy with the way things have turned out in the hours following what looked like a fruitful meeting with the group of Jean Henri Lhuillier late Tuesday night.
Ho said that Lhuillier is being groomed to take over the Philta from interim president, Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez, based on his separate talks with Olivarez, who has the backing of seven other board members.
Still, Ho got the assurance from Olivarez himself that he will personally nominate Lhuillier for the Philta presidency.
TEMPO first interviewed Ho around noontime yesterday and said that it appeared an election was going to be conducted.
But less than two hours later, Ho called to inform that tomorrow’s elections have been called off and that it wasn’t Olivarez’s group that asked for it to be moved as Friday has been declared a holiday.
“Ayoko na makialam as I’m wasting my time here,” Ho said in a text message.
Although Ho was guaranteed by Olivarez that he will vouch for Lhuillier, Ho didn’t rule out the possibility that the renowned tennis backer would end up being challenged by someone who will be nominated.
Last February, the POC ruled that Olivarez should start handling the affairs of the Philta as it could not recognize the election of long-time president Salvador Andrada in violation of the instructions from the International Tennis Federation.