LAGOT KA!

Ni Edwin Rollon

MAGKAHIWALAY na petisyon mula sa dalawang grupo ng local boxing officials -- Association of Philippine Professional Boxing Ring Officials (APPBRO- Luzon Chapter) at Professional Boxing Officials of Central Visayas (PBOCV) – ang isinampa laban kay Cebu-based Panamanian boxing judge Carlos Costa sa Games and Amusement Board (GAB).

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Sa sulat ng (APPBRO- Luzon Chapter) kay GAB Chairman Abraham ‘Baham’ Mitra na may petsang Setyembre 2, 2019, iginiit ang pang-aabuso ng Panamanian sa kanyang posisyon at “guilty of conflict of interest” bunsod nang pagiging boxing writer at interpreter sa mga Mexican at Spanish-speaking fighters na lumalaban sa bansa.

“As a Panamanian who is not a permanent resident of the Philippines, Costa is disqualified to be licensed as a boxing judge in the Philippines because there is no shortage of competent, experienced and honest Filipino boxing officials,” ayon sa sulat ng APPBRO na nilagdaan ng mga opisyal, maliban kay international boxing referee Silvestre “Ver” Abainza.

Kabilang sa mga opisyal ng  APPBRO sina international judge/referee Atty. Danrex Tapdasan, Ferdinand Estrella at Atty. Aquil Tamano.

“Costa violated the internationally accepted principles of boxing and guilty of conflict of interest,” ayon kay Tapdasan.

Kinumpirma ni Mitra ang ‘petition letter’ ng mga local boxing referee at judges laban kay Costa at iginiit na kasalukuyang nagsasagawa ng  imbestigasyon ang ahensiya bunsod na rin ng hiwalay na ‘incident report’ na isinumite ni Oliver Evangelista ng GAB Boxing and Contact Sports Division hingil sa masamang inasal ni Costa sa Official Weigh-in ng Gerry Penalosa Boxing Promotion nitong Agosto 24 sa TV5.

Ayon sa incident report na may petsang Setyembre 2, ipinagpipilitan umano ni Costa sa GAB na bigyan siya ng karagdagang laban para maging hurado maliban sa nakatakda niyang responsibilidad sa ABF Championship.

Ayon kay Evangelista, nagalit umano si Costa nang tangihan nila ang kahilingan nito at sinabing “I write good things about GAB and in return official like me must be assigned to these boxing event.”

“Very serious yung mga complaint against him (Costa). Mag conduct kami ng imbestigation regarding this para malaman natin ang puno’t dulo at maaksiyunan natin agad,” pahayag ni Mitra.

Iginiit ng PBOCV, sa pamumuno ni Arnie Najera, na nagagamit ni Costa ang pagiging boxing writer para maimpluwensiyahan ang pagpili ng judge sa laban tulad nang kaganapan sa laban sa pagitan nina Pedro Taduran at Samuel Salva  para sa IBF title sa Taguig nang magawa nitong mapalitan si Engr. Greg Ortega na nauna nang naipahayag na isa sa tatlong hurado sa laban.

Si Ortega, dating APPBRO president at veteran judge mula pa noong  2009 ay accredited international boxing judge sa IBF, WBO, at WBC.

“It is unfair and unjust for local Filipino judges who are more experienced and competent than Costa but have very few assignments as Costa has been disrupting the fair rotation among boxing officials,” adding, “being a foreigner does not mean that Costa is more deserving to be assigned as judge compared to Filipinos. Costa is a tourist in the Philippines and probably without any appropriate special working permit as required by the Philippine Immigration Act,” ayon sa petition ng PBOCV.

Iginiit din ng APPBRO ang ‘conflict of interest’ nang umaktong cornerman si Costa kay Mexican fighter Cesar Ramirez sa laban nito kay Pinoy  Johnriel Casimero para sa IBF bantamweight interim championship nitong Agosto 24 sa Manila.

“Costa is guilty of conflict of interest when as a licensed boxing judge here in the Philippines, he serves (sic) as cornerman and translator to a foreign fighter who was fighting a Filipino. Then, Costa held the Mexican flag, sang the Mexican National Anthem and gestured the Mexican salute while singing the anthem,” ayon sa APPBRO petition.