COMMISSIONER Ramon Fernandez of the Philippine Sports Commission yesterday said he would file a libel suit against Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco Jr. in Cebu City next week so he would have a proper forum to respond to the latter’s accusations of game-fixing.
“This way I can answer his accusations in the proper forum,” said Fernandez, who was accompanied by his lawyer, Atty. Ramsey Quijano, during the Philippine Sportswriters Association forum at the Aura ballroom of the Golden Phoenix Hotel in Pasay City.
At the same venue two weeks ago, Cojuangco, upset by the supposed meddling of Fernandez into the affairs of the POC and National Sports Associations, claimed the commissioner had no right to interfere into these matters because allegedly was involved in fixing games during his playing days with Toyota in the PBA.
“Is this the kind of (sports) leader that we want?” Cojuangco asked.
The POC chief pointed to Pastor Boy Saycon, a friend and political ally who is reportedly close to former Toyota team manager Dante Silverio, as having allegedly told him of the shenanigans of Fernandez, a four-time PBA Most Valuable Player.
A prominent businessman now based in Cebu, Fernandez said he will sue Cojuangco to protect his reputation and his family.
Fernandez had earlier asked the POC chief to account for the P38 million the government sports agency had given the POC in hosting the Asian Games golden anniversary celebrations in early 2014. He said the Olympic Council of Asia had subsidized the event.
The Asian Games golden jubilee was originally slated in 2013 in Boracay but was shelved when typhoon Yolanda devastated huge areas in the Visayas. (Malaya)
