AMID allegations of his past record involving molest, a Filipino sports coach here has been relieved of all his duties of training student athletes.
He has been in Singapore on an employment pass since March 26, 2008.
The decision to drop him was made by his employer, Mr Imran Mohammed Ali, 27, who owns the sports company Saga Coaching Singapore.
The New Paper understands that this move was taken as the Ministry of Education (MOE) launched investigations into the coach's role with schools.
Mr Imran hires three Filipino coaches to train six schools - including Sembawang Primary School, Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) and Guangyang Primary School - in a range of track and field events.
On April 6, The New Paper reported that they helped students to clinch a total of 42 medals in inter-school competitions this year.
Since then, it came to light that one of the coaches has had a troubled past.
In 2006, a court case was filed against the coach for committing "an act of lasciviousness" against a 15-year-old female student.
The coach denied the claim. The case was eventually closed because the alleged victim "did not submit any reply to disprove the defences of the respondent."
When contacted about the court case, Mr Imran told The New Paper: "Whether or not this case is true, such allegations are damning for any man's reputation.
"I don't want my coach to go down to schools until this incident blows over."
Mr Imran did not want to comment on whether the coach will be reinstated in the future.
An MOE spokesman said the ministry has looked into the matter and has been notified of Mr Imran's decision.
It has accepted the decision.
Top priority
"The safety and well-being of all our students is our top priority," the ministry added.
The court case, which the coach faced in Bulacan, Philippines in 2006, became an issue when Mr Jacter Singh, a former national runner here, heard about it from friends in Bulacan.
Mr Singh was the one who first brought the coach to work here under his sports company, JS Athletics, in 2008.
On July 17, 2009, Mr Singh cancelled the coach's employment pass.
It is understood that the coach then joined Mr Imran's company, which renewed his employment pass.
When contacted, a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) spokesman said that all employment pass applicants are subject to screening as part of the work pass assessment process.
In the case of this coach, no adverse records were found as he was never convicted in a court of law.
The New Paper contacted the alleged victim, who claimed: "After I filed the case in 2006, I have never received any document telling me that I have to go for a hearing."
Three teachers from Bulacan State University also confirmed the allegations of molest.
Several teachers and parents here knew about the case through JS Athletics owner Mr Singh.
Mr Parakkat Neithalath Siva Kumar, the teacher-in-charge of physical education (PE) at Rosyth Primary School, said: "Saga Coaching Singapore approached us earlier this year as they wanted to train our school's track and field team. Our PE head, however, rejected them."
This article was first published in The New Paper.
