BREAKING his silence for the first time on the issue, athletics chief Philip Ella Juico yesterday revealed that Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov was only belatedly paid the complete 85,000 euros “from other sources” in salaries for coaching pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena from 2018.
“Yong binayad sa kanya (Petrov), galing sa ibang-ibang sources. Hindi galing sa PSC (Philippine Sports Commission),” Juico said in an interview on the ANC podcast with Kara David, adding the bank transfers to Petrov’s account in Italy were done on Nov. 4, Nov. 5 and 9.
“Dalawa galing sa Arab Bank in Dubai, which was also used in an earlier transaction. May isa galing sa mother ni EJ, who at that time was an officer of Patafa (the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association). Ayun, umamin na,” the Patafa president said.
“We had liquidation reports since 2018 with signatures of Petrov (from Obiena). May disconnect so this has to be looked into,” he noted, while reiterating the Nov. 15 demand letter to Obiena that was reported over the weekend (not in Malaya-Business Insight) was meant to be internal and confidential.
Malaya Business Insight has obtained a copy of the Metrobank transfer of $12,000 (roughly P605,184) made by Ma. Jeanette Obiena, the former Patafa auditor and the athlete’s mom, to the account of Petrov in Italy last Nov. 5. Juico said the issue over the non-payment of Petrov’s salary came up during a casual overseas call last September with World Athletics Vice President Sergey Bubka.
He had wanted to thank Petrov, who also coached Bubka during the latter’s reign as world and Olympic pole vault champion, after Obiena saw action in the Tokyo Olympic Games. In that chat, he learned from Bubka, also the Ukraine Olympic Committee president, that Petrov has not been paid his wages since 2018 despite the fact that the local athletics body had remitted funds from the PSC directly to the Obiena, which he was supposed to give to Petrov. Juico said this prompted Bubka, a protégé of Petrov, to issue a sworn affidavit last Oct. 21 over Obiena’s failure to pay the coach’s fees since 2018.
“On Sept. 9, I talked to his coach and to Sergey Bubka and they told me that Petrov had not been paid since 2018. And Bubka affirmed it,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Are you (Bubka and Petrov) willing to complain about that and prepare a sworn statement, the both of you?’ They said yes,” said Juico, who flashed a copy of Bubka’s affidavit during the interview.
In the sworn statement, Bubka said that Obiena did not want Patafa to deal directly with the coach because “he (Petrov) did not know English. It was not true.”
“A certain amount of money was entrusted to you, pinagkatiwala sa’yo. There is a board resolution from the PSC stating that dito mo gagamitin ‘yan. Tinitingnan namin kung ‘yan nga ang ginawa. Sa kuwento nitong dalawa (Bubka and Petrov) sa affidavit, mukhang hindi,” the athletics honcho said.
“We are in a stewardship role, pinagkakatiwalaan tayo. This is part of good governance, accountability and transparency,” he pointed out. “Masama bang magtanong? Kami ang mag-a-account niyan. Ganyan ang nangyari, may binayad and ang laging paulit-ulit na sagot binayaran na daw. Ang tanong, kailan? Nov. 4, Nov. 5, Nov. 9. Bakit may liquidation noon, na binayaran noong 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. ‘Yon ang gusto naming malaman,” Juico said.
