11-sp: Parents to pull out Pia Adelle Reyes from US training
Balita News
MANILA, May 07(PNA) - Due to the present negative treatment that
the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) is getting from the
Philippine Sports Commission and the newspapers, the parents of 1997
Southeast Asian Games three-gold medalist Pia Adelle Reyes are planning
to pull out Pia and her younger sisters from their training abroad.
Aida Reyes expressed disgust on the news reports that the
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) accused the Gymnastics Associations
of the Philippines (GAP) of mishandling the financial supports intended
for her daughter, who is training in Texas, United States under the
supervision of foreign gymnast coach James Holmes.
Reyes denied reports that GAP has been receiving P260,000 a month
since January for the payment of Pia Adelle's training. The payment
supposedly intended for Pia's foreign coach, foods, accommodation, gym
fee, travel expenses and Filipina coach Liza Pou.
"Actually, we have received only one cheque worth P260,000 for the
month of March. That's the initial payment and aside from that we got
no single centavo from the PSC for Pia's training," said Mrs. Reyes.
Reyes also clarified that it was only Pia Adelle, who gets
financial supports from the PSC and that her sister, Precious Aissa, was
not included.
"When we received the money, we have to pay first Pia's foreign
coach and gym fee, dahil hindi naman puweding utangin iyon. At para
makatipid, our GAP secretary-general Molina Sugay offered us na doon
nalang patirahin sina Pia and Aissa sa kanyang kapatid sa Texas," Reyes
explained.
"So, bakit ganon ang nangyayari. Sa halip na tulungan nila ang
gymnastics ay para bang ibinabagsak nila," said the teary-eyed mother of
the Reyes sisters.
Pia's mother added that they have to use the financial incentives
which Pia received from the government after winning three golds in the
Jakarta SEA Games to finance their training in the US.
"My husband talked to me and he said na pauuwiin na lang ang mga
bata (the Reyes sisters) dahil parang hindi naman na-a-appreciate ang
sakripisyo at paghihirap na ginawa nina Pia at Aissa," she added.
Pia and Aissa, both members of the national team, are training
intensively for the 1999 World Championships in October and 2000 Sydney
Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, GAP sec-gen Molina Sugay lambasted PSC commissioner
Tisha Abundo for pulling down the gymnastics association instead of
helping them to recover from the controversy it got after losing worth
$16,903 (almost P.5 million) gymnastics equipment.
"She (Abundo) should be the protector of gymnastics being the
commissioner or adviser of GAP but instead of doing that, she is forcing
us down. She doesn't know her job," said the irked GAP
secretary-general.
Sugay said that Abundo knew about the gymnastics equipment since
September last year before it was auctioned by the Bureau of Customs
after the PSC and the GAP failed to claim it.
The PSC is a consignee of this imported equipment and commissioner
Abundo knew about it. Pero ano ang kanilang ginawa, they are blaming us
for the lost of this equipment," said Sugay.
The GAP sec-gen, on the other hand, said that the association has
assigned Belen Espiritu, a mother of gymnast, to lead a fund-raising
campaign to used in recovering the auctioned equipment which now in the
hands of group of parents of gymnasts from Poveda Learning Center.
The group of parents is actually asking for P500,000 pesos in
exchange of the equipment but the GAP requested to reduce it to P200,000
which the parents granted.
Aside from that fund-raising campaign, we're also asking the group
of parents to donate na lang the equipment and we will pay them on
installment basis," said Sugay.
in a letter to commissioner Abundo, GAP president Noel Buenaventura
said the association intends to pursue the further investigation of the
case with the Bureau of Customs "because of the apparent irregularities
surrounding the sale of the equipment." (PNA) rgc/JFM
PNA 05071951