Duterte to lead SEAG opening ceremonies despite controversies

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte is set to lead the formal opening ceremonies of the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) this weekend at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan despite the snafus on logistics and food preparations during the arrival of some of the visiting athletes and their respective delegations.

Strict security preparations are underway for the opening of the regional biennial meet, which will cover 500 events in 56 sports or 63 disciplines.

Duterte is set to attend the opening ceremonies of the regional sports meet on Nov. 30, which will also be highlighted by the simultaneous torch run at the Bayanihan Park in Clark Freeport, Pampanga.

In an interview over state-run Radyo Pilipinas, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said that the President was not happy with the controversies surrounding the SEAG and that an investigation is forthcoming.

But he joined calls for the Filipino people to unite behind the country’s athletes amid the controversies. He said the athletes, as well as the SEAG organizers, need all the help they can get to ensure the successful conduct of the regional sports event.

Added incentives

President Duterte will confer citations, as well as incentives, on Filipino athletes who will win medals in the SEAG on top of what is provided to them by law, Sen. Christopher Go said yesterday.

Duterte made the decision to provide more incentives upon the suggestion of Go, who urged Filipinos to unite and help make the athletes win and the country’s hosting of the SEA Games successful.

He said among the awards the President may confer is the Order of Lapu-Lapu, created in 2017 for government workers and private individuals who provide “invaluable or extraordinary service” to the nation.

“We can’t afford to fail, we’re the host, we cannot be embarrassed. Tell them (athletes) to do what they’re supposed to do,’” Go quoted Duterte as saying when they met on Tuesday night.

He said Duterte asked the country’s athletes and the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC), the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission to focus on the competitions and “bring in the medals.”

‘Blunders are common’

The foreign SEAG athletes now are better treated than Filipinos who have participated in sports competitions in other countries in the past, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said yesterday.

Sotto called for an end to the bickering and criticisms in connection with the country’s hosting of the SEAG, saying there will be a time for accounting for the reported lapses as well as wrongdoing that may be discovered after the competition.

He said glitches and blunders in any hosting of international sports competitions, including the Olympics, are common, as he cited his experience, as well as other members of his team, when they competed in bowling and golf in the Asian Games and other matches in the 1970s and 1980s where they emerged as champions.

“Even before, we had complained but they (host) will just nod and tell us ‘OK, we’ll look into it.’ But no, they won’t do that – they’re looking at their gold medal. So I think our focus now, of the athletes, is to win the gold and not listen to the complaints of whoever,” Sotto told reporters.

He also chided the coaches of football teams for holding a joint press conference and complaining about the reported delays in their hotel accommodations that raised suspicions that the move was meant to weaken the resolve of Filipino athletes.

The senator recalled when he, and world bowling champions Rafael Nepomuceno and Bong Coo, competed abroad, they also encountered many problems in food, accommodations and training, that they ended up paying for.

Sotto said it could be that host countries would not want to be too accommodating to foreign athletes, as it could lessen the chances of their local competitors to win medals. He said the Philippines actually is very hospitable to the foreign participants in the coming SEAG.

He recalled some of the country’s sports teams were not given buses on time so they could not warm up for their competitions in previous SEAGs.

“I’m not saying that we should not be too kind, I am saying that when it comes to the battle for the gold, we should not be too hospitable,” Sotto said.

“And we will ask of course the organizing committee to look into these complaints but we should not allow it to anchor us down,” he said.

Go reiterated that Filipinos must first focus on helping the country and its athletes, and with just a few more days to go before opening, “What can pointing at each other do?”

He said that in fairness to PHISGOC chair and Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, he was doing his best to fill the gaps in the preparations.