Former junior golfer Oliver Gan has been elected unanimously as the new president of the Junior Golf Foundation of the Philippines (JGFP) after the new board of directors convened for the parliamentary election on Monday, Oct. 3 in Quezon City.
The 39-year-old Gan emerged as the top vote-getter during the recent election of the organization.
He received 143 votes as Team OGAN, or the Outstanding Golfers Achievement Nationwide, took the first eight positions for the 14 elected directors.
A former program officer for the National Capital Region at the Philippine Sports Institute (PSI) - a branch under the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) - Gan replaced Nikki Ng, who failed to get enough votes (91) to keep her position in the JGFP board.
Other elected board members from Team OGAN are Aurelio Gomez as Executive Vice President, Mariel Macasaet as secretary, AJ Adiviso treasurer, Ely Saludar as Press Relations Officer, Jun Cedo as Executive Director, Lue de Guzman as membership committee head, Baltaire Balanguan as training chief, and Charlie Go of Team PLAY under Ng as Visayas tournament head.
Gan said it was unfortunate that five other elected JGFP board members opted to resign, including Mandaluyong City Vice Mayor Menchie Abalos, Victor Aliwas, Mark Roasca and Marc Young. Gerry Handog also decided to step down as chairman.
While the new board approved the resignation of the five elected directors, they decided to keep the position of chairman vacant in hopes that Handog will reconsider.
Gan, a former adviser for golf at the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) under then chairman Baham Mitra said the new board is moving forward with the programs of the organization.
“We’re actually very excited to start implementing the programs of the JGFP,” said Gan. “First off the bat is the Inter-School Championship.”
The said event is scheduled Oct. 16 at Eagle Ridge and Riviera Sports.