Billiards Exec Refutes Accusations of Cue Bets

by Bong Pedralvez as published in Malaya last Feb 27, 2012

read original article here: http://www.malaya.com.ph/02272012/sports4.html

BILLIARDS secretary-general Robert Mananquil yesterday refuted accusations by some cue players and coaches that coach Ireneo Gutierrez submitted a fake January attendance sheet to the Philippine Sports Commission.

"How can they say Gutierrez submitted a fake attendance sheet when, in fact, the Gameball (the billiards and snooker training site) was closed for the whole month of January, which the PSC was aware of," Mananquil said. "So where did they practice?"

Led by Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist Iris Ranola, silver medalist Robilen Amit and coaches Edgar Asonto and Reynaldo Grandea, the group met with PSC chief Richie Garcia last Wednesday to submit their attendance sheet and claimed what Gutierrez submitted for the month of January was allegedly bogus.

The attendance sheet, prepared by Ranola, was signed by Billiards and Snooker Confederation of the Philippines chairman Putch Puyat. The group submitted their own attendance sheet so they could collect their allowances for the month of January, adding BSCP president Bong Ilagan and Mananquil were "unavailable."

They likewise alleged that Gutierrez might have been skimming off the stipends of the athletes.

Mananquil, however, pointed out only he and Ilagan were authorized to sign the attendance record, adding the accusation against Gutierrez was impossible "because their allowances are withdrawn through ATM cards and goes directly to the athletes and coaches."

Mananquil said if there is anyone who might be liable for submitting falsified records, it could be the group since the attendance they turned in to the PSC was signed by an unauthorized official.

Mananquil said when he notified Puyat of the facts of the issue "he (Puyat) told me that he merely ‘attested’ to the attendance record without knowing the full background.

"The truth of the matter is, the PSC had yet to submit a training program in January and no allowances were to be given until its new directives on priority athletes and sports implemented. What the PSC did for January was just a consideration for the athletes in the national pool.

"These players and coaches were impatient in getting their money."

He added he was upset by the group’s accusations "because my name has been dragged into the issue when I don’t earn a single centavo from the BSCP and have spent considerable time, effort and my own money to help the organization."