By Carlos Costa

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The newly elected 2019 officers of Professional Boxing Ring Official of Central Visayas, Philippines (PBO-CV), held their solemn oath-taking ceremony in a meaningful event Friday, April 5, at Parkmall Mandaue in the Queen City of the South, Cebu, Philippines.

The significant Oath-Taking act was administered by the Games and Amusement Board Chairman (GAB ) Abraham “Baham” Mitra who was in Cebu and attended the important occasion.

The new officers who committed themselves to work tirelessly for the benefit and betterment of the Boxing Ring Officials in Central Visayas are:

President Arnie Najera, Vice-President Edward Ligas, Secretary Nicholas “Nic” Banal, Treasurer Edgar Olalo, Auditor Atty. William Mañus, PI Officer Carlos Costa, Members of the Board (former presidents of the group) Dr. Jose Unabia, Arnel Pasion and Salven Lagumbay.

The work agenda includes the provision of insurance coverage to all members. The insurance will serve as very important safety net for the boxing officials, especially when they travel in boxing assignments to far away destinations.

The planned agenda, also includes trainings for judges and referees so that they improve their craft, the fostering of camaraderie and unity among members, and the assurance of the best possible treatment to all boxing officials when they are travel away from their homes (the reasonable best possible hotels, food, transportation, etc).

On the important evening of the Oath-Taking ceremony, Arnie Najera, the newly elected president of PBO-CV shared his heart with BoxingAction24.comMagazine readers:

“Personally, I want to make an impact. As you know, my background is on corporate and structured environment. I’ve been into Finance and Administration all my life, and I want to put a little semblance of order in the way our group is being run. Right now, I’m crafting simple administrative procedures, aiming at installing them into practice.

“On finance, I want everything done transparent and with paper trail, said Najera, a Camarines Norte native who earned his BS degree in Accountancy in 1997 from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

“Yes, I want everything transparent and traceable, as it is important to me, being an accountant myself. Also, I do not want to touch the things of the past, but rather focus on the way forward. In addition, I want a robust organization and I want all members heard, and I assure all members that they have the right to question their leaders.

“Lastly, I want all members to feel that they have our PBO-CV organization backing them up in cases when their integrity is being questioned (for example on some controversial judging results), I want to assure all our members that our group will be behind them. Gone are the days when a member would be left on his/her own to answer complaints etc. I will make sure that our group will be with them when promoters, managers assail their competence and integrity just because their boxers lost in their scorecards.”

The author Carlos Costa is a boxing reporter living in Cebu, Philippines. Carlos can be reached at carlos512@hotmail.comand whatsapp/viber 09184538152.