“I will do my best as the new president,” Suzara pronounced to the media after the proclamation of winners by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) elections held at East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Parañaque City. 

“But I am not the only one [in the new federation]. I have the board and the other stakeholders who are there to support. We are all here to uplift Philippine volleyball,” he added. 

Suzara seized 31 votes as the president representing the Alliances of Philippine Volleyball Inc. (APVI) while Philippine Volleyball Federation’s (PVF) Arnel Hajan claimed the VP position with 30 votes.

Also winning the positions are Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas Inc. (LVPI) Secretary-General Ariel Paredes as the elected chairman and Donaldo Caringalas the Secretary-General, UAAP’s Rod Roque as the treasurer, and PVF’s Yul Benosa as the auditor. 

Also joining them as the members of the board are Ricky Palou, Tony Boy Liao, Karl Chan, Charo Soriano, Carmela Gamboa, Fr. Vic Calvo, and POC representative to the board Atty. Wharton Chan. 

“After this unification, imagine having all the stakeholders [together],…definitely, we can now move on in the volleyball, especially ngayon na lumalakas na,” POC President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said.

Meanwhile, the POC board is anticipated to have its results by Wednesday on its meeting and will be presented at the FIVB World Congress set to happen on February 5-7.