The last battle for the PFF

The Last Battle for the PFF

by rick olivares

Hours after Philippine Football Federation president Mariano V. Araneta and his party of three boarded a long Emirates flight from Manila to Qatar via Dubai to attend the 24^th AFC Congress,  a bit of courtroom drama unfolded  in the  Regional Trial Court (Branch 160) in San Juan in the afternoon of Tuesday January 4, 2011.

Before Presiding Judge Myrna Lim-Verano, in whose sala the case was assigned a day earlier, former PFF president Jose Mari Martinez took the witness stand to convince the court why a restraining order should be issued against Araneta to prevent him from assuming the position of federation president and from flying out to Qatar to attend the 24th AFC Congress slated  on January 4-6, 2010.

Apprised that Araneta and PFF secretary general Ramon C. Manuel have already left for Qatar, the court observed that the 72-hour Temporary Restraining Order that Martinez requested in his petition (SCA Case No.3515) was already moot and academic since the PFF officials had already left the country and that the Executive Judge did not issue a TRO prior to the assignment of the case to her sala. The hearing instead proceeded to dwell on the prayer of Martinez for a preliminary injunction and for Araneta to vacate the physical premises of the federation president pending resolution of the main case.

Curiously, in addition to his petition, Martinez could only present the PFF’s by-laws and AFC President Mohammad Bin-Hammam’s 22 December 2010 letter to FIFA protesting the 20 December 2010 FIFA decision upholding Araneta, as his evidence for an urgent need for an injunction.

Araneta’s lawyer, Atty. Edwin Gastanes of Gastanes & Associates Law Office, cross-examined Martinez and was able to present as Araneta’s exhibits the minutes of the federation board meetings of 25 September and 29 October, the board resolution of 27 November recommending the removal of Martinez, the opening statement of Martinez during the Congress, the fact of decision by more than two-thirds vote (26-0) of the PFF Congress on 27 November approving removal, and several specific portions of the PFF By-Laws dealing on the removal and replacement of federation president. Araneta’s counsel also submitted proof of the Emirates airplane tickets and Dubai-stamped passports of Araneta and Manuel.

The minutes of the PFF board meetings prior to the PFF Congress detailed, among others,  discussions on the charges against Martinez for misuse of federation funds the falsification of corporate document on bank signatories, the board decision to strip Martinez of his check signing authority, the board decision to audit the federation funds by a FIFA-accredited auditor, and the eventual adoption of a board resolution recommending removal and replacement of Martinez. Gastanes also presented the 20 December letter of FIFA Secretary General recognizing Araneta as the legitimate president after a review of all the documents and videos sent to FIFA.

While the hearing was taking place, several fax messages -- all dated January 4th -- were received by the PFF office in Barangay Oranbo, Pasig City. There was 3 January letter from FIFA Secretary General declaring that the results of a previous fact-finding mission conducted by FIFA and AFC lawyers from December 29-30, 2010 validated FIFA’s initial ruling on the PFF row. There were also two other letters that were signed by AFC’s Bin-Hammam – one informing PFF that AFC is agreeing to the latest FIFA decision upholding Araneta and a second one informing Martinez in seven terse sentences that AFC’s investigation confirmed the FIFA decision of December 20th. “By this, we are considering the Philippine Football Federation’s situation as closed,” summed up the Qatari president of the AFC.

“The minutes of  the board meetings and the PFF Congress are a matter of record, and the proceedings during the Congress were videotaped” Gastanes informed the court. “There was just cause for removal of petitioner and the procedure followed conformed to the PFF By-Laws.” Minutes showed that the board resolution recommending removal was signed by 8 out of 13 members and approved by 26 out of 33 members of PFF Congress.

After the two-hour hearing, Judge Lim-Verano considered the application for injunction submitted for resolution.

Said Gastanes after the hearing, “We are thankful that the TRO was not granted and the Court did not issue an injunction after the hearing. We believed that the documents we were able to present at this time, will convince the court that there is no legal basis to issue any restraining order or injunction in this case. Of course, we will later include in the answer required from respondents the latest  confirmatory letters from FIFA and AFC upholding the removal of Martinez and  election of  Araneta,  in addition to the recognition earlier accorded Araneta by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).  We are confident that the federation can build from the gains of Philippine football in the last months of 2010.”