Arroyo files suit to annul NGAP election

FORMER Pampanga representative Juan Miguel Arroyo and businessman Rodolfo Soriano Jr. asked the Pasig City Regional Trial Court to invalidate the recent election of the board of trustees of the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP).

Held on April 5, the election is being questioned for allegedly violating the association’s bylaws.

In their complaint filed on April 19, Arroyo and Soriano asked the court to also declare the annual general council meeting of NGAP on April 5 at the Alabang Country Club null and void.

Named as respondents were Martin Ignacio Lorenzo, NGAP president; Valeriano Floro II, secretary general; Avelino Sumagui, Nominating and Election Committee (Nomelec) chairman; and Marcus Antonius Andaya, Norbert Chico, Jose Geralrd Asuncion and Raymond Bunquin (members of the poll panel).

NGAP, a domestic non-stock corporation headquartered at the Philsports Complex along Meralco Avenue in Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig City, is composed of various golf clubs in the Philippines.

The complaint alleged that in December 2023, Arroyo and Soriano learned from friends in the golf community that NGAP planned to schedule its annual general council meeting and election of its board of trustees in early 2024.

Upon hearing complaints of mismanagement and dissatisfaction with the NGAP leadership, Arroyo and Soriano decided to run for seats on the board. They reviewed NGAP’s bylaws, focusing on the annual meeting and election procedures.

Arroyo and Soriano filed their candidacies and solicited proxies from other club members. However, the Nomelec disqualified some proxies submitted on the grounds that they failed to comply with the requirements imposed on the “official proxy form.”

The complaint alleged that Romulo and Floro invalidated most of the proxies submitted in Arroyo’s favor.

“Clearly, because their proxies were illegally excluded, Arroyo and Soriano were not elected,” the complaint stated.

The complainants accused the NGAP leaders of violating the bylaws by changing the venue of the meeting, excluding proxies and denying remote participation for members outside the area.

NGAP’s bylaws require annual meetings to be held at the principal office “or, if not practicable,” within the same city. The complaint argued, “The Alabang Country Club was an improper venue for holding the annual stockholders meeting and 2024 board of trustees’ elections.”

Arroyo and Soriano asked the court to declare all elective positions at NGAP vacant.

They requested the court to order Floro to accept their proxies and allow them to vote.

Likewise, the complainants challenged Nomelec’s requirement for a specific proxy form, arguing that the exclusion of 31 proxies is unlawful because Nomelec lacks the authority to enforce a specific proxy format.