Makabenta Statement on the Conflict-of-Interest Issue
After PSC Chairman William Ramirez completely belied the charge of the BMPAP leaders that the PSC gave P10 million and P1.2 million to the Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP), it shifted to this new charge that there is "a conflict of interest" between my being the chairman of BSCP and being president of Raya Sports.
This charge has no basis in fact and in law, for the following reasons:
1. The BSCP is a private, voluntary association, registered as a non-stock corporation to promote and develop billiard sports in the Philippines. Its membership comprises billiards stakeholders, such as players, promoters, billiards distributors, managers, referees, coaches, billiard parlor owners, billiard clubs, patrons, and fans. All stakeholders have interest in billiard sports, and all are encouraged and urged by the BSCP to do their utmost to promote pool in our country.
I joined the BSCP in 2005 because of my interest in pool as executive of a sports promotions company, as a player and as a fan. Mr. Sebastian Chua, the president of Star Paper Corporation and BSCP treasurer, is in a similar situation; he is the distributor of quality billiards equipment and owner of the finest local billiards facility. Others in BSCP have similar business and professional interests in pool.
The suggestion that to avoid "conflict of interest" a BSCP official must be free of business or professional interest in our sport would negate the very purpose of our association. It would consign the BSCP to the leadership of individuals who can't do anything to help Philippine pool development.
2. The Billiards Congress of America, the governing body for billiards in the US and the model for BSCP, has as officers and members executives representing billiards companies and associations. Ivan Lee, president of Ivan Simonis, is the president; Sean Cummings of Brunswick Billiards is the Treasurer; Mark Griffin, president and promoter of the BCAPool League, is a director; and Renee Poeblman of the American Poolplayers Association is the second vice-president. Virtually every officer and director has a strong business or professional connection with billiards – and that precisely is the point. They all are in a position to affect the future of the sport – that's why they sit in the governing body for pool in the US.
Conflict of interest in law and business ethics applies to "a situation wherein a person has a duty to more than one person or organization, and cannot do justice to the actual or potentially adverse interests of both parties. An attorney, an accountant, a business adviser or realtor, for example, cannot represent two parties in a dispute and must avoid even the appearance of conflict."
There is no conflict or appearance of conflict between the work of the BCA and the work of the executives in the billiards companies they lead. The same is true of the BSCP and its officers, directors and members. Indeed, both organizations encourage the participation of billiard companies in the association because their goals converge around the common objective of advancing billiard sports.
3. The BSCP is recognized as the National Sports Association (NSA) for billiards by the Philippine Olympic Committee. NSA status does not turn it into a government agency, as is clear in the POC by-laws. Further, the BSCP does not receive any funding from the Philippine Sports Commission. Whatever the PSC allocates for billiard sports are directly paid to the individual payees or activities being funded. This includes allowances for coaches and players, and the payment for the travel of players abroad.
The Philippine sports system relies on private associations to do the work of sports development and promotions. They are expected and encouraged to seek sponsorships and partnerships to achieve their goals. It is in this light that Raya, with the sanction and support of BSCP, organized the World Pool Championship and the National Championships for men, women and youth.
4. My being chair of BSCP confers no preferential treatment of Raya in the policies of the association towards promoters. Neither does my being chair make the selling of Raya events easier with either private or government agencies. Our sponsorships depend entirely on the quality and significance of the events we organize. The post of BSCP chairman is one of policy making and oversight through the board of directors. The executive function is exercised by the president and the other officers of BSCP.
Last year, Bugsy Promotion, per its proposal, was granted sanction and support to organize "the BSCP Ranking Tour" – a 20-event tour to be staged all over the country. For this project, BSCP directors personally contributed P30,000 each. The project failed because of poor organization and management, scant sponsorship and failure to pay prizewinners. Perry Mariano still has not accounted for the funds or the events.
BSCP has offered to the BMPAP the management and promotions of the national championships and the world pool championship this year. But it is not interested. This shows again that they are interested only in their agenda, and not in serious pool development in the country.
5. The BSCP is now 21 years old. I joined the association just two years and 10 months ago. For the previous 18 years, the association's main activity was selecting players for the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games. And for much longer, the leaders of the Filipino billiards community had all the prerogatives and opportunities to develop pool in our country, yet they did not do much in this objective.
The fact that the new BSCP board since 2005 inaugurated a more proactive program and has succeeded in raising our sport to the front ranks deserves commendation. And the fact that our Raya Sports division has contributed to this is a service to our sport. It is the height of absurdity and envy for anyone to suggest impropriety in Raya's ability to mobilize private and public sector support for the staging of the prestigious World Pool Championship in Manila for two years running.
6. On the other hand, I contend that there is a real conflict of interest when player managers become also the organizers of pool tournaments. There is conflict because managers have an interest in their players' winning the tournaments and promoters are obligated to be impartial and fair to all the players in the tournaments, who pay good money to join and also seek to win. The basic principle of fairness is strained because managers naturally favor their players in various ways, from entry into the tournament to event formatting to arrangements.
We are not speaking of the appearance of conflict here, but real conflict. Many players have complained no end about favoritism and rigging of tournaments run by player managers. The media should investigate these some time, if they are really interested. In the Negros International Open organized by Puyat Sports and Negros Billiards last year, players of the organizers (both managers) were accorded automatic "seedings" in the final 32 draw. On the other hand, other players had to slug it out in qualifiers that involved scores of players. Other tournaments run by the BMPAP managers have been similarly conflicted.
This is the real danger now posed by the plan of BMPAP to organize a professional pool team league. With managers also the promoters, there will be problems of credibility and fairness, to say nothing of possible game-fixing.
To sum up, nothing in what I do as BSCP chairman and as Raya president constitutes a conflict of interest in any manner. My work as chair has to do strictly with oversight and policy-making. Like other directors and members of the BSCP, I believe I should do my part in making billiards a major sport in our country and in putting Filipino pool on the map of the world. Through Raya Sports, I believe I am meeting this responsibility and performing a national service. YEN MAKABENTA
Contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO
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