Managing the POC

PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee (POC) president Ricky Vargas was quite frank in assessing how he has been performing in his position given all the problems he has faced, is facing, and will be facing. Top of the list is the preparations for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games that the country is hosting.

Like Ricky, I am a management-trained guy, expected to look at problems objectively, then find the solution, do it, and then move on to the next problem. But then Ricky has found out that it is a lot different when it comes to managing the POC with a Board that he inherited, a divided one for sure following his ascendancy to president replacing Peping Cojuangco.

If not for his corporate job with the MVP Group, I do not think Ricky would have been this exposed and involved in Philippine sports, much more become POC president, seemingly a thankless job for him.

He pinpointed the existing culture at the POC as the aspect he is most uncomfortable, which I understand perfectly. In management, again, we are given set goals and objectives as a company, as a department, division, and as individual officers, and guided by the company’s vision and mission, we get down to work accomplishing those goals with politics a secondary factor and not the primary factor.

It is the opposite it seems for Ricky in the POC. He has to work with the current situation and the current situation calls for a lot of politicking, compromises, negotiations, consideration for perceived rights of traditional sports leaders, set procedures, whether formal or by practice only, and traditions that do not want to die.

He went as far as admitting, when he appeared at the PSA Forum last Tuesday that there have been attempts to unseat him as president. No success so far but definitely, it has affected the way Ricky looks at his work much as he would like to focus on the interest of Philippine sports.

I am sure he is running into a lot of situations where personal interest is given more importance by some sports officials serving in different positions.

Perhaps there are those who are harping back to the good old days when things were pretty much under their control without feeling the need to be transparent about their actions, contrary to what Ricky is saying that what he wants is to change POC into a more transparent, more honest and less political organization.

I cannot blame him at all, he is not used to this kind of environment where he will be faulted for not delivering on a job when he does not enjoy the cooperation of the people he is working with and where backstabbing happens, he says.

Among the other major problems that he feels he has not been able to address effectively is the leadership dispute in several national sports associations (NSAs) including tennis, swimming, volleyball and bowling. Something he inherited when he took over, and this is where I can say I am disappointed even as I accept the fact that faced with his situation, it will really be difficult to work effectively and make the decisions that otherwise would have been easy organizational and management decisions for people with his corporate experience.

Then there is the preparation for the forthcoming SEA Games.

There are three groups involved, the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc), the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the POC, each one with its idea of what has to be done and the way to do them.

I believe that no matter what reasons that will come out, if we do not do good in the SEA Games, Ricky will get his share of the blame being the POC head.

The PSC, meanwhile, was able to get additional funding from Pagcor to improve existing sports facilities like the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and Philsports Arena, something our athletes need. The PSC will also continue funding the training of athletes for the SEA Games.

Ricky, however, is committed to finishing his term as POC president but to seek an extension, that is something else. He is not sure if he would like to go through all of these things again, unless he is given marching orders, maybe from MVP, to remain at his post and like a good soldier and corporate man, Ricky will follow that order.