FOR all his years as a veteran politician, Mikey Arroyo, son of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, appeared like a little lost boy as he navigated the election for officers of the National Golf Association of the Philippines held recently.
The younger Arroyo had been a congressman, a party-list congressman, and a former vice- governor of Pampanga. But for all his record at winning elections, he had no answer to the tactics and strategy of the team led by Martin Lorenzo, the owner of Luisita Golf Club and incumbent NGAP president running for reelection.
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The team Arroyo built to overthrow Lorenzo proved to be no match to the machinations of his rival. If this was a golf game, Lorenzo had given the Arroyo camp a stroke a hole but the latter still could not keep up.
Yet, when the campaign started, many seemed to favor Arroyo, who was seeking the NGAP presidency. The NGAP, the national sports association for golf, was in fact in disarray. Its officials, led by Lorenzo and his secretary general Bones Floro, were beleaguered with scathing criticism from members.
The NGAP, among other things, scrapped the contract of the country’s handicap provider and replaced it in favor of a foreign one, although the local firm had no instance of malfeasance or of poor performance. Golfers were unanimously happy with its work.
When the contract was terminated, the NGAP owed the provider at least P9 million which, to this day, is reportedly unpaid.
The NGAP officials also overstayed for nearly a year, refusing to call an election until one golf club member complained.
Moreover, the NGAP actively meddled in the affairs of junior golf associations, favoring one group over the other, thus creating tension within the golf community when it should be encouraging unity and camaraderie.
PH run of poor results overseas
The country’s golf standing in Asia, especially in Southeast Asia, has plummeted dramatically over the past several years, as evidenced by our poor results in the Putra Cup and the Nomura Cup, as well as in the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games.
Add the fact that for many years now, our Philippine Open, once a major destination for many international golfers in the Asian Tour and our country’s premier tournament, has been reduced to a locals-only event, if it is held at all.
And yet, given all these negative factors that looked serious enough to turn the tide in Arroyo’s favor, his team was roundly beaten in the election. Arroyo, apparently disheartened by his impending defeat, did not bother to attend the election, as did many of his fellow candidates.
Sources in the Arroyo camp say they had decided to boycott the polls because their opponents, using election officials they appointed to supervise the polls, had invalidated their proxy votes for not conforming to formal requirements.
Arroyo had banked on the proxy votes to oust Lorenzo. When these were disallowed, Lorenzo’s path to reelection opened wide and unimpeded. When the count was completed, Lorenzo’s team won all but one of the 11 directors’ seat, a super majority that ensured another three-year term for the incumbents.
Except for one, the winners were all seeking reelection. Enteng Santos, whose businesses include real estate and the construction of golf courses around the country, topped the election with 79 votes. Arroyo got 27 votes, tops for his team. To illustrate how badly he was outgunned, the 11th placer in the winners’ circle got 56 votes.
Whatever complaints Arroyo may have regarding the conduct of the election are all water under the bridge now. He may have a point about the lack of impartiality in the conduct of the election, but what is clear is that Lorenzo’s team has retained control of the association despite its calamitous record at governance.
Arroyo’s campaign should not end when the last ballot is counted. His team should continue to monitor the performance of the winners and make certain there is transparency in the conduct of association affairs particularly in NGAP projects requiring funding.
Their vigilance is necessary in fairness to those who joined their crusade and to those who sincerely believed that change was needed in the NGAP.
Arroyo and his team did not succeed this year, but who knows what the next election will bring. A simple advice: make sure your proxies are counted.
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