Drive for SEAG crown starts

The 23rd Southeast Asian Games, two weeks of battle for athletic excellence, unfolds today with the region’s biggest sporting spectacle taking a new role as a vehicle of peace not only in the region but to a divided nation.

President Arroyo will formally open the event, with the theme "One Heritage, One Southeast Asia," among 11 nations involving more than 7,000 athletes and officials in colorful but austere rites at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park at dusk.

"Sports is a unifying element in society," Mrs. Arroyo said as she called on the opposition to close ranks and support the Filipino athletes in their quest for honors in various fronts.

What the negotiating table had failed to achieve in years, the Chief Executive said sports could very well accomplish, even for a fleeting moment in today’s opening of the Games in an expected blaze of colors and pageantry in the open area fronting the Quirino Grandstand.

And in the strongest gesture of unity and brotherhood, the President and leaders of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will share the same stage as a way of showing the world the commitment of both government and the rebels to attain elusive peace.

"We feel so honored to attend, for the first time in MILF history, the opening of the SEA Games. And this will show the world that we are for peace and the MILF’s strong commitment to the peace talks," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu was quoted as having said.

A total of 13 gold medals will be disputed in five sports disciplines in today’s opening hostilities. The Philippines is hoping for a strong start that could fuel its determined drive toward the overall crown it barely lost when the country last hosted the event in 1991.

The nine-day Games will be the tightly secured as the government mobilized closed to 17,000 troops and security personnel from the military and the police force which will be on alert against any threat.

Security has been stepped up, particularly with the presence of members of Southeast Asian royalty and top government and sports officials here to boost the morale of their respective athletes.

Equestrienne Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski will lead the oath of sportsmanship while Athens Olympiad taekwondo veteran Marie Antoinette Rivero will bear the SEA Games torch to light the urn.

"Ati-Atihan" performers will usher in the parade of nations that will highlight the colorful rites to be spiced up by song and dance numbers and fireworks and to be telecast live on ABC-5 and Channels 4 and 13 starting at 5:30 p.m.

The Philippine flag will enter borne by 20 Boy Scouts of Siena College, joined by the 12 sports ambassadors. As the Philippine flag is unfurled, the Philippine Eagle mascot "Gilas" will be shown on the video screen.

The Bayanihan Dance Troupe will then perform an exciting tribal dance while the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra will render a number that will feature the country’s rich culture and heritage.

The opening rites theme will showcase racial traits common among participating nations — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam and the host country.

The Games’ theme song, "We’re All Just One," composed by famous singer Jose Mari Chan and written by Rene Nieva would be sung by Julia Abueva, a young Filipina soprano based in Singapore, accompanied by the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Miguel Chorale.

It will be the country’s third hosting of the biennial competition. Once again, the country is expected to rely on the hometown advantage and give the visiting athletes a tough time in the next 10 days.

In 1991, the Philippines came close to its first overall title in the SEA Games, finishing a very close second to Indonesia in the medal race. With its 91 gold medals came the "Miracle of ’91."

"I am very positive and excited. Our athletes will deliver," said Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirez on the eve of the formal SEA Games opener.

"I hope we can duplicate the achievements in 1991 or even surpass them," added Ramirez, who carries a direct instruction from Mrs. Arroyo: help the country win the overall crown.

If the country’s hosting of the SEA Games in 1981 and 1991 is a hint of things to come, then the Philippines is truly ripe, ready or even bound to win the overall championship.

In 1981, the Philippines won 55 gold, 55 silver and 77 bronze medals to finish third behind Indonesia and Thailand. Then in 1991, Filipino athletes won 91 gold, 62 silver and 84 bronze medals to land second.

"It seems to be that there’s a pattern – from third in 1981 to second in 1991. So, if you are to use this as a gauge, then we should finish first this time," said the PSC chief.

There are 439 gold medals to be disputed in 40 sports with thousands of athletes from 11 countries being scattered in venues from within Metro Manila, Tagaytay, Laguna, Pampanga, Zambales, Bacolod and Cebu.

The Philippines, courtesy of the men’s water polo team, is already in the medal standings with one silver that was won the other night.

The absence of basketball, the country’s most popular sport, has left a small dent on this year’s SEA Games. But things will move on just the same in that there are 40 other sports.

Local sports officials have predicted a very strong finish for the Philippines, saying it could win as many as 128 gold medals. Achieving this target will definitely give the country a clear shot at No. 1.

A total of 742 Filipino athletes are in the fold, each one of them hoping to do their share, each one of them hoping to shine like trickster Lydia de Vega in 1981 and tanker Eric Buhain in 1991.

Three gold medals will be up for grabs in athletics today athletics at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, one in billiards and snooker at Makati Coliseum, three in diving at Trace College in Los Banos, two in dancesport at Waterfront Hotel in Cebu and four in karatedo Mandaue Coliseum, also in Cebu.

Athletics president Go Teng Kok has promised to win the first gold for the Philippines courtesy of Maristella Torres or Lerma Gabito in the women’s long jump finals set at 9 a.m.

But can it provide the needed spark for Team Philippines on opening day? The question will be answered by the time the last gold for the day — billiards’ 15-ball doubles — is disputed at 7 p.m.

The opening day of the 1991 Games came on Nov. 25 and the Filipinos struck hard, winning nine of the 20 offered that day, the first courtesy of rifleman Emerito Concepcion, and emerged the overall leader.

The rest is history. — With reports from Aurea Calica, Manny Galvez