RAMON 'Tats' Suzara, president of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation, is likely under the illusion that the country is still under martial law because the sitting president’s name happens to be Ferdinand Marcos. Perhaps blind or ignorant or both, he hadn't noticed that "Jr." was now the suffix to the Marcos name.
Under Ferdinand Sr., the Philippine press, then one of the freest in the world, was completely silenced when he declared martial law on Sept. 21, 1972. All media outlets, bar none, were closed, rendering millions ignorant of what was going on in their country, not to mention leaving thousands jobless.
Suzara, whose name and presence is almost in every billion-peso sports event in the country — the 2019 Southeast Asian Games; the equally exorbitant 2023 FIBA World Cup; and now the controversy-laden FIVB Men’s World Volleyball Championship — issued an edict that was vintage martial law. Last Tuesday, two days removed from the anniversary of the declaration of martial law, he summarily took away the press accreditation of SPIN.ph, a sports website in existence for the past 13 years.
READ Senator Erwin Tulfo slams PNVF for 'censorship'
His idea apparently was to silence the website, very likely as an example to others, by taking away the credentials of its reporter and its photographer, then covering the FIVB Men’s World Volleyball Championship, an event the country is hosting, at Suzara's instigation, to the tune of P2 billion of mostly taxpayers' money.
Suzara reportedly fumed about the website’s “negative reporting” and straight away moved to tear away — actual word used was “deactivate” — the website's credentials and terminate its reporting on the championship.
When Suzara issued the ban, he clearly was being shortsighted, seeing only how the move could spare the tournament more "bad" publicity — or spare his embattled neck —as the championship was heading breathlessly toward disaster
The P2 billion is nowhere near to getting a return on investment.
READ National Press Club, PSA president weigh in on PNVF 'censorship'
Media outlets — not SPIN.ph alone — reported that very many games played to mostly empty seats, what with the cost of tickets at the atrocious amount of P1,500 to P15,000; and these media outlets — not SPIN.ph alone — also hammered home the point that 25 million US dollars (or 1.4 billion pesos) was paid to FIVB for the hosting rights alone.
Reaction to Suzara’s ban was swift and unforgiving. Senator Erwin Tulfo denounced it on the Senate floor, and joined the National Press Club and the Philippine Sportswriters Association president in saying that this was a blatant act of censorship and, therefore, an assault to press freedom
Under siege from nearly all quarters, Suzara backed down and ordered the restoration of SPIN.ph’s press credentials, but only after, it is said, being cajoled by Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick Gregorio, a man who apparently saw no virtue in feuding with the press.
After all, we are supposed not to be under martial law. Suzara's move, if left unchecked, could end up bringing the public's anger to a boil. And, mind you, this is not the time to try men's souls.
How it even happened that Suzara should be so brazen as to take away SPIN.ph’s credentials is not yet clear. The controversial official has been known to tangle with the media in the past, suing reporters from the Manila Times and the Daily Tribune over their reporting of the 2019 SEA Games in Manila, an event which cost the country P7 billion to host over 12 days. Add to that, the event’s one permanent and ridiculous legacy: a P50-million cauldron used just one time.
By the way, his complaints against the two newspapers were dismissed for lack of merit.
Suzara helped found the Philippine Super Liga (PSL), a professional volleyball league established in 2013. By May 2018, he had resigned under curious circumstances amid internal strife that led to a court battle. The case filed against Suzara was dismissed.
But the man keeps bouncing back. Soon, he became president of the PNVF, the local volleyball association, and on Aug. 30, 2024, was elected president of the Asian Volleyball Confederation.
Suzara, 66, has not spoken to the press about the brickbats thrown at the world championship. He has not denied that the Philippines is spending P2 billion for a 17-day event that's being undertaken just when failed flood-control projects and corruption in government have again taken over national news.
Senator Tulfo should not be satisfied with denouncing Suzara and the PNVF. He should be urging the Senate to call Suzara to explain not only the volleyball expenditures but also the past billion-peso events where he was a central figure. These are billions of people's money! No different from the billions for flood control projects gone!
Sources also say there has been no formal accounting of SEA Games expenditures. It seems that the Commission on Audit has been unable to persuade the top officials of the 2019 Organizing Committee to submit an accounting.
In SEA Games 2019, Suzara was a member of the executive committee as its chief operating officer.
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