The Lapu-Lapu Tennis Club
CEBU CITY, Philippines—- A group of tennis players in Lapu-Lapu City are crying foul after they were banned from playing at the Lapu-Lapu City Tennis Club (LCTC) allegedly due to politics and their rift with some club officers.
Vendetta Motoriders, comprised of motorcycle enthusiasts and tennis players, accused the current officers of LCTC of banning them from playing at the facility since last year.
In a statement sent to CDN Digital, Vendetta Motoriders said that they were banned by LCTC president Ruso Zaragosa for not helping out during the resurfacing project of the tennis courts.
A total of 17 individuals were banned from the public sports facility including two nationally ranked players Joshua Kinaadman and Dale Estonillo.
However, there’s more to the issue than meets the eye the group said. According to the group, they were banned because of politics.
“Nagpatawag ug bayanhinan si fiscal (Zaragoza) ug niingon nga ang dili mobugwal, dili maka duwa. Kami wala mi motabang kay nakahibalo man mi naay pondo ang tennisan para ana kay ni post man sila sa FB page sa LCTC. Nahuman ug resurface ang tennisan mga second week sa November ug dinha nami gi ban ni Fiscal (Zaragosa). Bisan kinsa namo dili mi paduwaon. Ingnon dayon mi sa caretaker nga naa mi sa lista. Amo silang gi ingnan nga i-post sa bulletin board ang mga lista sa gi ban pero dili gyud nila ipakita. Ug giapil nila ang tanan nga i-ban sa grupo. Wala gyud lain rason ani, ang politics!” the group stated.
However, Zaragosa strongly denied their accusations, explaining that the club officers were forced to ban them because of their lack of cooperation and for creating divisiveness and faction within the club.
In a lengthy post on the LCTC’s Facebook page, Zaragosa stated the main reasons why they were forced to ban Vendetta.
According to him, all they ever wanted from Vendetta was cooperation for their resurfacing project last year. According to Zaragosa’s post, the resurfacing project costs P100,000 per court. However, they managed to cut the cost to P70,000 because of the cooperation of club members.
Aside from the cost, the resurfacing required time and staffing to finish. Thus, Zaragosa requested members of the club to help them finish the project as soon as possible by doing volunteer work since all of them can use the facility once the project is finished.
He said he was greatly disappointed when members of Vendetta allegedly mocked his request by posting photos of the group playing on another tennis facility with matching offensive captions.
“Sa pag sugod palang nako pag lingkod isip presidente, ako ug si Mayor Ahong (Chan) mipa himangno nga one family rata diha sa atong tenisan irregardless of our political beliefs, affiliations and convictions. We will play, enjoy and laugh together in our clubhouse and tennis courts despite our differences in politics. Mao nga wala kitay gi ban tungod sa politika. In fact, ako pa gi suspenso ang usa ka member nga supporter ni Mayor Ahong kay dihay kasikas nga kabahin sa politika. The gist of my decision clearly abhorred politics to reign over our tennis court because its not a political arena but rather a tennis play ground,” stated Zaragosa’s Facebook post.
Zaragosa added that even some players affiliated with Chan’s political rivals were allowed to use the tennis facility.
“Wala sad nato gi kontra gyud nang ilang grupo kay naa man tay gipa dula sa ilang ka grupo sama ni Glen Abad, Van Zulueta ug uban pa kay nanabang mani sila sa pag bugwal ug ayo sa atong korte. Naa say leader ni Mayor Ahong matag election nga naa sa ilang grupo, so nganong mopa siatab man nga gi ban sila tungod sa politika. Sa tinuod lang, gi ban mo namo kay dili mo angay igka uban sa tenisan kay wala moy pang hunahuna para sa kaayohan sa atong tenisan,” Zaragosa said on the post.
According to Zaragosa, LCTC is willing to end their rift with Vendetta if the latter would agree to visit and talk to Mayor Chan. /rcg
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