RICHARD “DICKIE” BACHMANN bordered on championing teamwork to cooperation and collaboration as he spent his third day Friday as chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
“I’m not the savior of Philippine sports nor the PSC,” Bachmann told BusinessMirror on Friday. “I need the help of everyone.”
Bachmann, 54, was sworn in as the 12th chairman of the PSC on Wednesday by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin in Malacañang and buckled down to work by meeting his board composed of Olivia “Bong” Coo and her newly-appointed fellow commissioners Edward Lim Hayco and Walter Francis Torres.
Coming out of that three-hour meeting, Bachmann released a two-paragraph official statement saying he would be putting the athletes’ welfare as tops in his priorities as well as the national sports associations.
He also vowed to bring the management skills he learned as a basketball executive as he thanked his former team Alaska, mentor Wilfred Uytengsu and the basketball community.
There was no mention of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), the highest governing body of sports in the land.
But on Friday, Bachmann said he would strengthen the PSC’s ties with the POC and vowed to establish Paris Olympics task force.
He clarified that he would be working with the POC, headed by Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino “for the betterment of sports and the national athletes.”
“I want to strengthen my relationship with the POC,” he said. “They wrote me a congratulatory letter and I will respond to that letter. I would ask him [Tolentino] if we can create a working task force for all the events leading the Olympics.”
“I really need the cooperation of the POC. The more involved they are and the more we work together, the better,” said Bachmann, a replacement for Noli Eala who was PSC chairman for four months. “We will be having a meeting soon.”
That meeting, BusinessMirror learned, would be Saturday.
Bachmann said he would live up to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s “unity” slogan.
“I cannot do it alone and I’m also learning. I need everyone’s cooperation and help from this office not only from the commissioners and the POC…the private sectors to make this succeed,” he said. “Everyone should be working together.”
He also said he won’t be rushing President Marcos on the appointment of a fourth commissioner to complete the PSC board.
“I will just wait for the president to appoint another commissioner,” he said.