Alright. It's about time. I've not been privy to his dealings in the past, but what I hear from a reliable source, this guy's got to go.
After more than a hundred years since the Philippine Football Federation's (PFF) establishment, fans and players of the sport have yet to see a support system that would be at least par with what the PBA enjoys. Despite the wealth of talent concentrated mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao areas, the Philippines is languishing behind its Asian neighbors, and majority of Filipinos have no idea that we have a football team.
The prevailing me-first-before-others culture among many (majority?) of our supposed public servants have brought on this almost century-long stagnation. Lack of vision and love of self. Those and probably, incompetence.
As Joaquin Henson pointed out (The Philippine Star, September 2, 2010), it would be interesting to find out if the Philippines' improvement in the FIFA world rankings last year was due to attendance or performance. And with the oodles of money lavished on us by FIFA, the AFC and our richer Asian neighbors, we would like to see where all this money has gone, and why, with the number of coaches, referees, players and expats who dutifully try their best to promote the sport here, the PFF and Philippine football is nowhere near the capabilities of such Asian powerhouses as South Korea, North Korea and Japan - and us being a 113-year old federation. The PFF doesn't even have adequate storage space to store their equipment that their futsal balls are being lugged around by an employee in the trunk of his/her car.
Jack Biantan sent in this commentary to the Inside Sports column in The Philippine Star, published on September 5, 2010 (emphasis mine):
London-based Cebu sportswriter Jack Biantan sent in a commentary about the state of Philippine football today.
'What has the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) done for football?' sighed Biantan. 'Referees seminars? Coaches seminars? But where are the tournaments? What will the coaches and referees do without tournaments? What has the PFF done to the money left behind by the previous administration? And the millions that Sepp Blatter of FIFA gifted to all developing member countries? The PFF is one of the richest sports associations in the Philippines. Just go to their headquarters and you will see how rich they are. Just check where the president has traveled these past two years - first class - and you will be scandalized by his extravagance.
'Last year, the PFF asked Cebu to spearhead its Vision Asia football development program. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) allocated millions for this. The Cebu Football Association (CFA) jumped on the project and picked coaches who were supposed to be paid by Vision Asia money. Days passed, then weeks, then months. But where was the money for the coaches?
'When CFA president Richard Montayre went to Manila to look for the money, he did not get any answer except for an e-mail from the PFF president chiding him for writing the AFC about the funds. Eventually, the project ground to a halt. Pocketing the coaches' stipends is beyond my imagination. It is the lowest of the low. I thought the PFF had a Board of Trustees made up of good men. I am convinced that Philippine football is facing one of its darkest hours.'
Ricky Olivares bares all in his column for the Business Mirror, again emphasis and italics mine:
"The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) receives $250,000 every year from Fifa. That translates into roughly P12,000,000. That makes is the second most moneyed National Sports Agency following the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas. Yet in terms of progress, it is one of the worst. Progress is slow, the results are disappointing, and unity is nonexistent. The various football associations hardly get along and are suspicious of one another’s motives.
Said an old-timer in the local football scene, “Before Fifa began to give money no one wanted to get involved. When the money started coming in, everyone wanted in.”
The money sent by Fifa is supposed to be used for a national tournament, coaches and grassroots training, disbursement to the member associations for various projects, and quite a few more. Once the budgets are drawn up for national and regional projects, it is supposed to be taken up by the Board of Governors for approval.
But like in this republic of dangerous minds, that has not been the case in recent years. Nothing has gone to the football associations for years now. There is no national tournament. The men’s and women’s national teams are funded by the managers. Instead, the money has been used to increase the PFF’s assets by investing money with persons not associated with football and hiring the marketing services of a group that delivered nothing. Instead, the money has been used and misused.
One football association has had enough. The Cebu Football Federation behind its officers Richard Montayre and Dick Emperado (FA president of Dumaguete), filed a case against PFF president Jose Mari Martinez for falsification of documents last month.
In a meeting with Montayre two months ago, he disclosed how he was surprised to come across a notarized document dated November 28, 2009, that stated that any two of the following three persons—PFF president Jose Mari Martinez, PFF treasurer Antonio Marty and PFF managing consultant Henry Tsai—were authorized signatories to the NSA’s corporate account with Banco de Oro.
Montayre and Emperado were both present in the meeting but the issue of adding a third signatory—Tsai’s— was never taken up.
And in another document prepared by then “acting general secretary” Ramon Manuel sent to the bank dated June 19, 2010, it mentioned a new board resolution that stated only Martinez and Marty could authorize the movement of the PFF funds. Coincidentally, around that time, the word filtering from the offices of the PFF in Pasig City about a falling out between Martinez and Tsai.
Montayre contends that there was no such board meeting. And furthermore, asked Montayre, “Who is Henry Tsai? No one knows him in the local football scene. So how could he have been a member of the board?”
I managed to secure the mobile-phone number and tried getting in touch with Mr. Tsai and his wife but received no reply. I tried calling again and it was his brother, Peter, who picked up and said he did not know anything about Tsai’s involvement with the PFF. While also surfing the Internet for any information about Tsai, I came across some disturbing information (blog.henrytsai.com) that, of course, may or may not be true.
During a board meeting on September 25, Martinez shed light on Tsai’s “appointment.” “I had to find a solution to Mr. Marty leaving for abroad and the solution was to get Tsai. But before Tsai could be a signatory, he had to fulfill 4 criteria he set... first, as a manager of the Futsal team, second, as a fallback since the PFF always lacked money before the end of the year; thirdly, to rent the ground floor for P40,000 a month; and fourthly, to sell football products.”
And this begs even more questions. Why did Martinez require Tsai to fulfill four requirements to be able to be a signatory to PFF checks? What’s in it for Tsai? And what interests does Martinez have?
Martinez was stripped of his right to authorize transactions from the BDO account.
In that meeting, the Naga FA’s Atty. Anlu Carpio questioned Tsai’s appointment without board approval.
I was able to secure a PFF memorandum dated June 15, four days before the document sent to the bank that excluded Tsai from being an authorized signatory to the savings account. The memo was from Tsai and it had him listed as “Executive Vice President of the PFF” and the subject matter was regarding “overtime, weekends, and holiday access to the PFF building.”
While asking other local football officials about Tsai’s appointment, they expressed surprise and anger. “We knew no such thing about his appointment or involvement in the federation,” said National Capital Region FA president Pocholo Borromeo.
The PFF’s House of Football in Pasig was built through the Fifa Goal Project that helps in the creation of technical centers or headquarters where the NSA can effectively run its operations. It is technically Fifa property and cannot be used for anything else, at least not without permission from Fifa.
A check of the expenses of the PFF in the past year showed, among others, a disbursement of some money to the Pagadian Football Association, an honorarium to the Board Treasurer (Marty), expenses for the PFF Futsal Cup, and some other football-related matters.
On the other hand, it also revealed some curious entries: payment for Bayantel numbers not used by the PFF,sliced cheese bought from Martinez, SM appliances and car expenses, Valle Verde Country Club shares bought and enjoyed by its three signatories (Martinez, Tsai and Gerry Ledonio, marketing head) and “investments” by Tsai.
There are also numerous particulars for payments for credit cards and loans.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Thus, the Board of Governors has now appropriately acted and ordered an audit of PFF's expenses.
MANILA, Philippines - An external audit has been ordered by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) Board of Governors to get to the bottom of a financial mess that may lead to the resignation of president Jose Mari Martinez.
Mariano Araneta Jr., president of the Iloilo Football Association and newly appointed chairman of the PFF financial committee, said yesterday the Board has designated Tereso Campos to conduct an audit of the books of accounts in the wake of reports of arbitrary disbursements, extravagant expenses, missing funds and unauthorized obligations to third parties.
Martinez came under fire in a recent Board meeting at the PFF office and reportedly offered to resign in November after a motion was filed to force a leave of absence pending results of the audit. But Araneta said Martinez later held back, insisting to stay on the job because of his close relationship with Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Mohamed Bin Hammam of Qatar.
Araneta declined to accuse Martinez of any wrongdoing until the audit determines accountability even as the PFF president was charged in court by two Board members, Richard Montayre of Cebu and Dick Emperado of Negros Oriental, for falsifying public documents in relation to designating a bank signatory.
What bothers Araneta is the PFF’s “topsy-turvy” accounting which caused the issuance of bouncing checks to provincial affiliates and coaches despite a healthy donation of P16.8 million from FIFA this year. FIFA deposits $250,000 annually in the PFF account. Sharing the profits of the World Cup, FIFA pledged an additional $250,000 to the PFF this year and so far, has remitted $125,000.
With so much money coming in, Araneta said he was shocked when the PFF’s balance in its dollar bank account was only $203.80 last July 31. In reviewing the PFF’s cash flows from January to August, Araneta noted a payment of P3.79 million for a loan and “money for safekeeping” amounting to P2.89 million to Henry Tsai whom Martinez named as bank signatory without Board approval.
“We don’t know how Mr. Tsai is involved,” said Araneta. “He is supposed to be a managing consultant. We’ve been told he claims to be the assistant to our treasurer and the PFF executive vice president, a position that doesn’t exist. All we know is we recently received a demand letter from Mr. Tsai’s lawyers that the PFF owes him P1.58 million.”
Araneta, 56, said it appears that Martinez helped himself to the PFF funds. “There are payments for his hospital bills of P160,000 even with a $2,500 medical insurance, credit card statements of close to P300,000 and cell phone bills,” he said. “A membership was paid for at Valle Verde with Mr. Tsai one of the beneficiaries. Payments were made to a group called G-World for services to produce a TV show and stage a fund-raising event that lost money. We are looking into the ownership of G-World.”
Before Martinez took over the PFF helm, past president Johnny Romualdez never drew a salary and used no more than P3,000 a month for his PFF-related expenses, including representation. Martinez, however, receives a monthly salary of P25,000 and an allocation for his other expenses. The PFF’s monthly payroll has ballooned to P360,000 a month.
Araneta said an example of Martinez’ extravagance was when he flew business class to South Africa for the recent World Cup with legal counsel Corsi Cruz and contractor Ding Wenceslao. FIFA travel consultant Marco Wirz provided funds for economy tickets of $5,850 but Martinez went overboard by $10,600 and even extended staying in South Africa by two days, incurring additional cost for the PFF.
Araneta said he suspects hanky-panky because the books show the PFF borrowing money for expenses. Credit card charges were in round figures, indicating a withdrawal of cash to meet certain financial demands.
“From what we are told, the PFF had $30,000 in BDO and P1.6 million in BPI,” said Araneta. “We want to know where that money went. Maybe, the funds from FIFA were invested somewhere and disappeared which may be why we’re seeing loans being made. We understand Mr. Tsai has been Mari’s associate for over 20 years. Mr. Tsai even rents space in the PFF building at P40,000 a month but we don’t see that reflected in the books. We’re not accusing anyone of anything. We’ll wait for the audit results before we make conclusions. All we want is to clean house. There are sponsors willing to help Philippine football but they’re hesitant to invest because of reports of financial problems.”
Araneta said the falsification charges against Martinez are not as grave as if he is found to be guilty of malversation. “We want to pinpoint accountability,” said Araneta, a former national football player from 1975 to 1984 and a UP engineering graduate. “A money issue is non-negotiable. If Mari is liable, he must answer for his accountability. It’s possible that this is case of gross mismanagement without malice involved. The audit should reveal everything we want to know.”
In a portent of things to come, Araneta said Martinez has been delisted as a signatory in one of the PFF’s bank accounts by the Board.
Since assuming the PFF presidency two years ago, Martinez has been dogged by two resignations as secretary-general. Pablito Araneta and Cyril Dofitas previously served before Chito Manuel was appointed.
And just so you know there's truth behind some of these accusations, which would no doubt lead us to the conclusion that Martinez is engaged in dealings without the consent of the Board of Governors, have a listen to this recording here of one of the PFF's board meetings.
FIFA has already inquired about the misuse of the funds they allocated for various football programs but the latest news I have is that the PFF hasn't replied satisfactorily to their queries.
Meanwhile, Martinez has already been charged with falsification of public documents (PDI, October 1, 2010) since he has declined to resign (Cebu Daily News, October 4, 2010).
Thanks to bleachersbrew.blogspot.com, filipinofootball.blogspot.com and other concerned individuals for the article sources.
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