Fil-Ams must meet SEAG norm to make RP team

Next week’s Milo National Open track and field championships will form part of tryouts for the competing Fil-American athletes with those matching or surpassing the Southeast Asian Games gold medal standard earning automatic berths to the national team.

"Anybody who does that automatically qualifies to the national team," said RP athletics chief Go Teng Kok yesterday, hoping to discover fresh talents who can serve the country in future international competitions like the SEA Games, Asian Games or even the Olympics.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Celso Dayrit said the Fil-Am athletes, products of the newly-formed and Los Angeles-based Philippine Overseas Olympic Development Committee (POODC), will not get any special treatment in their bid to make it to the national team.

"They will have to undergo the normal selection process like the rest. But to match the SEA Games gold medal standard only means that they deserve to make it to the national team," added Go, who expects more foreign-based Filipino athletes to follow suit.

The event offering 44 gold medals in the men’s, women’s, boys’ and girls’ divisions is scheduled June 1 to 4 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

A total of nine Fil-Ams will see action in the event, which also attracted entries from China, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Macau and Hong Kong. Those who have yet to confirm their participation are Sri Lanka, India, East Timor, Singapore, Vietnam, Chinese-Taipei and Kota Kinabalu.

They are Gabe Cabrera (200 and 400m), Kim Ramirez (800 and 1,500m), Gary Cablayan (100-m sprint and 400-m hurdles), Kashus Parano (200 and 400m) Deborah Samson (pole vault), Rose Supangan (10,000m), Jenny Buncio (5,000 and 10,000m), Breanne Bumanlag (100 and 200, sprints) and Krizia Apelar (200 and 400m).

Cabrera, a 21-year-old coming out of the Asuza Pacific University, and Ramirez, another 21-year-old from Univesity of California, are last-minute additions to the team. Pulling out because of an injury was Gerlaine Kiamco who was supposed to compete in the hammer throw event.