In November 2016, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) held an election which saw Jose "Peping" Cojuangco win a fourth term as president after Victorico "Ricky" Vargas was disqualified for not being an "active member" of the committee. Tolentino, a candidate for the chairman position was also disqualified on the same grounds.
The camp of Vargas said that being an active member does not equate to physical attendance which the POC led by then incumbent President Cojuangco insists. This led to Vargas to seek a temporary restraining order to stop the 2016 elections and rule on the POC's commission on election's authority to define the eligibility criteria of being an active member.
The court denied postponing the 2016 elections but it ruled in December 2017 that the commission on elections of the POC cannot qualify or restrict the criteria of being an active member, ruled that the results of the 2016 elections for the post of President and Chairman null and void, and ordered the POC to hold elections on February 23, 2018 with Vargas and Tolentino as candidates.
Cojuangco's camp has raised concerns on infringement on the POC's autonomy by the government and possible suspension of the POC by the International Olympic Committee leading to the 2018 elections. An extraordinary general assembly was held on February 19, 2018 to decide whether the elections should take place and discuss the active member eligibility. They affirmed the definition of the eligibility criteria that led to Vargas and Tolentino's disqualification in 2016 but the two were allowed to participate in the 2018 elections.
Vargas and Tolentino were then elected as president as Chairman respectively.
2016 elections
Background
Candidacy of Vargas and Tolentino
Ricky Vargas made an attempt to run for President of the Philippine Olympic Committee in 2016 challenging incumbent, Peping Cojuangco. His camp includes Abraham Tolentino of Cycling running for chairman, Albee Benitez (Badminton) for First Vice President, Lucas Managuelod (Muay Thai) for Second Vice President, Sonny Barrios (Basketball) for Treasurer, and Ting Ledesma (Table Tennis) for Auditor.
Mariano Araneta of the Philippine Football Federation also planned to run for President of the POC but withdrew to support Vargas' candidacy.
Disqualification of Vargas and Tolentino
The candidacy of Vargas and Tolentino were not accepted by the POC's commission on elections which is headed by Francisco Elizalde. Elizalde reasoned that the two did not satisfy article 7 section 11 of the POC charter which stated that a candidate must have attended 50 percent plus one of the total number of General Assemblies the past two years.
Ricky Vargas criticized his disqualification through his spokesperson Chito Salud. The Vargas camp alleged that the disqualification decision was made "without any objection or opposition from a known third party", "hastily rendered" without a basic requisite hearing held and there was no written resolution issued in regards to the justification to disqualify him.
According to Elizalde, Vargas is an inactive member for attending just one general assembly meeting within the past two years. Vargas insist that being an active member is "more than attendance" and that "Physical presence at the general assembly does not equate to active participation". Then incumbent president, Peping Cojuangco insists there is nothing political about the rules on elections set by the POC in 2008 are just being followed. Vargas then filed a petition for temporary restraining order (TRO) before the Pasig Regional Trial Court to stop the scheduled November 25 elections to allow for dialogue.
The Senate's committee on sports held a hearing on November 22 regarding alleged unliquidated funds given to the sports body by the government and the contentious disqualification of Vargas. The POC made an unsuccessful request to have the hearing cancelled. Its lawyers attended the oral hearings since the POC stated that President Peping Cojuangco had to attend to a hearing regarding the TRO petition filed by Vargas' camp. However Cojuangco did not attend the TRO hearing. The Philippine Sports Committee also attempted to hold a mediation meeting but Cojuangco or his allies did not attend to the meeting.
The Pasig RTC denied Vargas' camp to have the elections stopped but hearings regarding the "active member" criteria which led to Vargas' disqualification was scheduled to take place in December 2016.