Fresh from rise in world rankings, Obiena reinstated to PH team

The PSC hopes that Obiena’s reinstatement “will further motivate our athlete to perform better in the coming international competitions” as he prepares for the 2024 Paris Olympics. (File Photo: @ernestobienapv/Instagram)

MANILA – EJ Obiena is set to make his way back to the Philippine athletics team.

The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) is now in the process of reinstating the world’s number three pole vaulter to the national team after a successful medal run in the World Athletics Championships.

The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) said on Friday night that it has received a letter from new PATAFA president Terry Capistrano expressing its intent to reinstate Obiena.

Capistrano asked the PSC that through the reinstatement, he shall be “given the same allowances previously extended to him based on his classification as a world-class athlete.”

For PSC officer-in-charge Guillermo Iroy, the reinstatement is another good news considering that the agency, through former chairman Butch Ramirez, had a hand in fixing the spat between Obiena and PATAFA, when Popoy Juico was still the president, earlier this year.

“I see no problem with the endorsement, EJ deserves to be back on the team,” Iroy said, adding that the PSC will quickly reinstate Obiena once all the formalities have been settled.

The PSC hopes that Obiena’s reinstatement “will further motivate our athlete to perform better in the coming international competitions” as he prepares for the 2024 Paris Olympics.