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OFFICIALS of the Philippine National Shooting Association (PNSA) are not only liable for the missing million worth of clay shooting targets and ammunition but also for sending unqualified shooters to an international competition including the forthcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
For this, PNSA President Emeritus former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson sought help from both the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) to look deeper into the matter for the sake of fairness, justice, cooperation and continued development in sports.
“Humihingi kami ng tulong at suporta sa POC (Philippine Olympic Committee) at sa PSC (Philippine Sports Commission) para malaman natin ang katotohanan sa mga nagyayari sa PNSA. Mga atleta kasi ang apektado rito,” said the feisty and celebrated politician/sportsman during media briefing on Thursday at his guest house in Corinthians Garden in Pasig City.
“Naba-bother kami kasi nagpapadala sila ng hindi qualified. Yun lang ang concern namin. May qualification ‘yan, qualification score na dapat sundin., dapat tignan ito ng POC. Yung sa mga nawawalang clay targets worth P1.9M eh pera ng mga atleta ang ipinambili dyan at nawala yan sa pasilidad ng PSC,” added Singson, who was joined by ‘whistle blower’ former national shooter Raul Arambulo.
Singson claimed that the current turmoil in the PNSA could pass the range to call for inquiries from both the Senate and House of Representatives.
“Katotohanan and hanap natin para mapanagot yung may mga sala at nang hindi na ito maulit in the future, pasok ito at puwede itong imbestigahan ng Senado at Kongreso,” said Singson.
Arambulo, a member of the Clay shooting team that won a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Association Championship in 2005, was the one who exposed last January the missing clay targets in a two 20-footer container van stuck inside the PSC Shotgun Range at the Bureau of Corrections property in Muntinlupa City.
He said that with the help of Singson’s personal lawyers, a demand letter was sent to the PNSA last May 4 regarding the whereabouts of the equipment and the decision in the investigation conducted by the PNSA Moving Target Aggrupation (shotgun) Committee whose members Dr. Adel Samson, PNSA secretary general Veneranda “Iryne” Garcia and Jerry Sun were questioned in the said controversy.
“Wala kaming nakuhang sagot sa imbestigasyon nila. Obviously, yung mga involved sa controversy eh silang nagsagawa ng imbestigasyon,” said Arambulo.
“Ang PSC may hiwalay na investigation at sa kopya ng report na ibinigay sa amin ni PSC Commissioner Fritz Gaston, may anomalyang nangyari at directly involved yung tinukoy naming PNSA Officials. But,still hindi kami makapag-filed ng charges dahil wala pa sa amin yung mga vital pieces of documents galing sa PSC,” added Arambulo.
Arambulo stressed they already requested the PSC for copies of the ‘Annexes’ of all documents which included the security guard logbook, and signed affidavit of the witnesses which include the then PSC Venue Manager Manuel Martinez to substantiate all the evidence against those ‘erring’ PNSA officials.
“Kaya po kami ay nananawagan kay PSC Chairman Dinkie Bachmann na mabigyan kami ng kopya ng mga ‘annexes’ ng kanilang imbestigasyon para magamit namin sa pag-file ng kaso sa mga involved na PNSA officials. Nagtataka kami dahil matagal na rin yung request namin kay Chairman Bachmann,pero walang responds,” said Arambulo.
On the issue of sending ‘unqualified’ shooters, Singson questioned the inclusion of shooter Joaquin Ancheta in the Asiad line-up (Category A) which will be funded by the PSC. Ancheta was marked DNF (Did Not Finish) in two elimination tournaments organized by the PNSA last year and during the ISSF Lonato Cup, an Olympic qualifying event, in Lonato del Garda, Italy last July.
Also, in Lonato Cup, another shooter Enrique Apolinario, who never saw action in any of the local PNSA elimination meets, was also entered as well as self-made multisport campaigner Ormoc, Leyte Rep. Richard Gomez, despite the fact that he failed to breach the 100-score mark in the National qualifying meet. In Italy, he finished 189th out of 196 shooters in the trap event with a score of 91.
“Si Cong. Richard Gomez, hindi nakapasa sa local qualifying tapos pinadala mo sa World meet. Nakakahiya tayo sa international community kung unqualified yung shooters na ipadadala natin to represent our country,” said Singson.
Beijing Olympian Eric Ang was the best Filipino trap shooter in the Lonato event as he landed at No. 93 with 113 points, while Cambodia SEAG silver medalist Hagen Topacio was No. 97 with 112 points and Carlos Carag No. 164 with 103 points. Topacio (116) and Ang (112) were 1-2 in PNSA eliminations just before the Lonato Cup.
Ang, however, was listed in Category B by PNSA in the entry name submitted to the POC, which means he will have to pay on his own if he wants to compete in the Asian Games.
“Hindi tama. Palalaruin mo yung mga unqualified. Habang yung talagang deserving out sa line-up. Paano tayo mananalo ng medalya sa international competition kung ganyan ang gagawin ng PNSA. Trauma tiyak sa mga atleta na deserving pero hindi isinama,” said Singson.
Singson also singled out the 22-year-old pistol shooter Carlo Valdez, who has been performing consistently in all qualifying events but was excluded from the team going to China Asiad.
Valdez shot 576 in the 10-meter and 558 for the free pistol 50m. The promising athlete has also equaled the 27-year-old national standard of Filipino-American Jomike Gonzales with a score of 584 in one of PNSA’s monthly eliminations. His 584 total also matched the runner-up qualification score by South Korean Jin Jong-Oh and two points short (586) made by India’s Saurabh Chaundhary en route to clinching the gold medal in the men’s individual 10-meter during the 2018 Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia.
“Hopefully, the Philippine Olympic Committee will see the wisdom of including Valdez to the Asian Games Philippine team. Sayang ang talento, kawawa yung bata, trauma ito sa kanya,” said Arambulo.
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