Lawyer Antonio Cablitas was elected yesterday as new president of the Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA), a development that may end the leadership issue within the federation.
A former vice president of PHILTA in the 80s, Cablitas said the reason why he decided to return to tennis and accept the position is due to the current state of the sport in the country, especially with the development of players for international competitions.
Aside from that, Cablitas is very much concerned with the internal squabbling between two factions of former president Buddy Andrada and tennis benefactor Jean Henri Lhuillier, who he intends to unite.
“I came in kasi gusto ko maayos na,” said the 68-year-old Cablitas, who is also the current Presidential Adviser for Investments of the Duterte administration. “I’ll try to reach out to them, we’ll ask what they want. I will be inviting them (to a meeting).”
“We can’t afford to lag behind, it’s already June, just two months before the Southeast Asian Games. We want to keep tennis on its feet and we move forward from there. There will be no de-alienation,” added Cablitas.
The election, however, was tainted again with the no-show of Lhuillier’s group, including former tennis president Juilito Villanueva, Virgilio Gerardo Moranilla and Randy Villanueva.
Also elected were Martin Misa (vice president), Edna Olivarez-Nguyen (secretary-general), Romeo Magat (treasurer), former PHILTA chief Pablo Olivarez and Manuel Misa.