Under the new charter, officials of the Philippine Olympic Committee can run for a post for up to three terms. And now, they have an age limit of 75.
These new rulings will cover all executive positions in the country’s Olympic sports body.
The amended constitution of the POC will take effect during the next election of officials of the organization — which is November this year, during the next Olympic cycle after the Paris Olympics 2024.
At the same time, officials who have reached the age of 75 will be disallowed from continuing with their duties as officials.
The age limitation was supposed to be 70, which has been imposed by the International Olympic Committee.
“I haggled it. I wanted it at 80. The IOC wanted it at 70. But we had a compromise at 75,” said POC president Abraham Tolentino.
The changes come after three years of reviews and revisions and a year after the International Olympic Committee amended the Olympic Charter to strengthen its human rights commitments last year.
Tolentino, who is in Korea for the Winter Olympic Games, explained during the general assembly that officials of the POC can only serve for a maximum of 12 years.
At the same time, officials who have reached the age of 80 will be disallowed from continuing with their term of office.
Tolentino said that under the IOC charter, any IOC member ceases to be a member at the end of the calendar year during which they reach the age of 70 or 80.
POC officials said this is in compliance with the changes that the IOC has recommended and implemented following a meeting held in Mumbai in October last year.
Two-thirds of the POC General Assembly approved of the amendments, during its gathering at the East Ocean Palace Restaurant in Paranaque City.
The body also gave its nod to the proposal that at least 30 percent of the Executive Board must be female.
The POC chief said that there was no term restriction when an official served as an official of the POC in the past.
But having a three-term boundary this time around, is better than none at all, according to Tolentino.