Longtime volleyball official and Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) chief operating officer Ramon Suzara swept the local federation elections for its presidential seat on Monday, January 25, at the East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Pasay City.

Suzara, representing the Alliance of Philippine Volleyball Associations, Inc, was formally elected with 31 out of 31 votes to preside over the country’s new volleyball federation, which hopes to unite rival groups within the sport’s local scene.

Larong Volleyball Pilipinas Inc’s (LVPI) Ariel Paredes emerged as the chairman, while the Philippine Volleyball Federation’s (PVF) Arnel Hajan won the seat of vice-president.

Alliance’s Donaldo Caringal was elected secretary-general, while Rod Roque (LVPI/UAAP) and Yul Benoza (PVF) are the federation’s treasurer and auditor, respectively.

Board members include Premier Volleyball League’s Ricky Palou, Spiker’s Turf’s Tonyboy Liao, LVPI/NCAA’s Vic Calvo, Beach Volleyball Republic’s Charo Soriano, Carmela Gamboa, Karl Geoffrey Chan and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) representative Atty Wharton Chan.

The elected officials are only given a one-year mandate as another election is set to take place next year after the local federation successfully receives recognition from the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB).

The international federation requested the POC to hold a formal election immediately as the failure to do so before the volleyball World Congress on February 5 to 7, would be detrimental to the country’s chances of participating in FIVB-accredited tournaments.

Suzara has long been active in the FIVB as a marketing committee member and the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) as the head of marketing and development.

The renowned tournament organizer was also the former Philippine Superliga (PSL) president before he resigned from his post in 2018.

The resignation came when he and Caringal were accused by PSL vice-president Ian Laurel for the alleged misuse of funds amounting to millions, following an independent audit of the sports group’s finances. (READ: PSL prepares for legal battle vs former president, treasurer)

But Suzara and Caringal released a joint statement claimed that the allegations were “unfounded lies”.

Suzara and the elected volleyball officials will be at the helm when the men’s and women’s national teams aim for titles in the 2021 Vietnam SEA Games.

While the women’s team failed to crack a podium finish and finished last in the country’s hosting of the regional biennial meet, the men’s team scored a breakthrough silver medal finish after 42 years. – Rappler.com