The Philippines is renewing its close relationships and collaborative efforts with the International Olympic Committee.
Top officials of the Philippine Olympic Committee made this possible after POC president Ricky Vargas and secretary-general Pato Gregorio went on a two-day visit to the International Olympic Committee’s headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Accompanied by IOC representative to the Philippines Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Vargas and Gregorio had a 45-minute audience with IOC president Thomas Bach at his office in downtown Lausanne last Wednesday.
They also met with lawyer Jerome Polvey, who is the Head of Institutional Relations and Governance and National Olympic Committee Relations.
Joining them were Olivier Niamkey (Head of Athletes Unit and Relations with OCA and Asian NOCs) and Director General Pere Miro.
The IOC Sports Department briefed the delegation on the Athletes Commission, Athletes Entourage Commission, Games Management Dept. and Sports and Active Society Commission.
After that, they were also taken on a tour of the Olympic Museum, according to POC spokesman Ed Picson.
“He (Bach) gave me a lot of pointers, foremost of which was to enjoy my job. He also talked of the values of collaboration, getting engaged, friendship and building relations,” on the warm welcome they received from Bach.
Vargas and Gregorio also mentioned the Philippines’ aspirations for its first Olympic gold medal to which the IOC head stressed that “the Philippines is a vital partner in the Olympic movement.”
On the other hand, Gregorio said they had very informative discussions with the other IOC officials, notably with Polvey who showed deep knowledge of the developments in POC and oriented them on “responsible autonomy, NOC governance and the national players rule.”