Senator Francis Tolentino on Sunday welcomed the Commission on Audit’s (COA) report on Olympic pole vaulter EJ Obiena’s liquidation issues saying the agency’s finding has finally put a closure to the valuable athlete’s problems.
In a letter sent by COA to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) dated March 31, 2022, state auditors clarified that they “have not issued any Notice of Suspension nor Notice of Disallowance” over the government-funded assistance given to Obiena amounting to P12.34-million between June 2019 until August 2022.
With this development, Tolentino said Obiena can now shift his attention and solely focus on his upcoming games, especailly the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam next month and the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, later in September.
“This will definitely put a final closure on the matter. EJ’s sole job is only to train hard and to perform well for his upcoming tournaments. Hindi niya trabaho na maging isang (It is not his job to be an) accountant,” said Tolentino.
Last March 17, Tolentino and three other senators filed a motion for contempt against top honchos of the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) for bringing its case against Obiena before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland after the botched mediation between the two camps.
The leadership of PATAFA and Obiena later reconciled last March 30 and “agreed to a settlement,” according to PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez.