Philsoc files 7 cases vs Angping

Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Philsoc) president and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) head Jose “Peping" Cojuangco has filed seven cases against Philippine Sports Commission chairman Harry Angping over the issue of unliquidated account in the 2005 SEA Games hosting.

Cojuangco, through his legal counsel Vicente Chuidian, sought the payment of P10 million in actual, compensatory, exemplary damages and attorney’s fee from Angping for tort, libel and damages charge for the "sudden, unexpected and unlawful oppression for demanding the immediate refund" of Philsoc's supposed unliquidated account. Angping, who’s had a public spat with Cojuangco and his peers at the POC, has threatened criminal and civil charges against the Philsoc if the organizing body for the 2005 SEAG fails to return P73, 243, 524.86 in "unliquidated" government financial assistance for the event. Cojuangco claimed the Philsoc has already accounted for the full P300-million it received from the PSC, with auditors from esteemed Sycip, Gorres and Velayo firm supervising and validating the body’s books. Numerous liquidation papers, though, were disallowed by the Commission on Audit. “All of the documents were turned over to the COA relative to the P300 million government funds, including receipts. It is quite irritating that Angping and the PSC will now threaten us with a lawsuit four years after the event," Conjuangco said. IOC citation Cojuangco pointed out that the Philippines even received a citation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for running a successful SEAG on a shoestring budget. “Even the international community was aware that we had budgetary constraints in 2005 so it is preposterous for Angping and his cohorts to even suggest that there were irregularities in the handling of the limited resources of the 2005 SEAG." The former Tarlac solon wants the tables turned and have PSC submit itself to an audit so that the public would know how government funds are disbursed by the agency. “Mahirap kay Angping, kung sinu-sino ang tinuturo niya samantalang ang dami nating mga sports associations na umiiyak na hindi pa mabigyan ng suporta," Cojuangco lamented, citing the plight of a number of National Sports Associations that failed to secure financial assistance from PSC even for legitimate and extremely major sports events. “Magaling lang siya na magpa-picture katabi ang ating mga atleta na hindi naman niya matulungan." Apart from tort and libel, Cojuangco also accused Angping of violating the amended Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, coercion or grave threats under Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code, violation of the Omnibus Rules Implementing Executive Order No. 292 and COA Memorandum No. 7648, and violation of Section 144 of the Corporation Code. Election-related? The complaint likewise alleged Angping, a PSC Commissioner, an officer of the COA and several others of having “conspired with one another" with the intention of “harassing, disturbing and bothering the plaintiffs for defendant’s unlawful ends, including but not limited to, causing shame and dishonor upon plaintiffs (Cojuangco)." This, Cojuangco, claimed, is apparently aimed to “prejudice" the recently announced presidential candidacy of his nephew, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III. “It is either Angping does not understand what he is doing or he is doing this with political motivations with the intent of disturbing my plans to campaign full blast for Sen. Aquino," Cojuangco said. - GMANews.TV