The government called out the body for acting hastily over the matter.

Cabinet Secretary and acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles expressed hope that Patafa and Obiena rift will be ‘threshed out’.

“We continue to support all of our athletes, including our star pole vaulter EJ Obiena and we hope that whatever disagreements that he may have… between EJ and the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association, hopefully they will all be threshed out,” Nograles said in a Palace press briefing.

In the same manner, Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Butch Ramirez asked Patafa to act ‘like sportsmen, which all led Patafa chairman Rufus Rodriguez to accept and sign the letter deferring the actions recommended by its fact-finding body.

As an alternative, the body desired and urged all parties involved to go through the mediation offered by the PSC through Chairman Butch Ramirez.

Obiena is currently the Asian record holder and the No. 6-ranked pole vaulter in the world