Nganong usbon man gyud?

The six-man Southeast Asian Games task force will make sure that the size of RP delegation to this year’s competition in Thailand does not go out of proportion.

Philippine Sports Commission’s Ritchie Garcia, head of the task force, yesterday said they will meet with the heads of the different national sports associations next week to discuss the matter.

The other members of the task force are Joey Mundo and Leon Montemayor from the PSC, and Mark Joseph, Julian Camacho and Romeo Ribano from the Philippine Olympic Committee.

As it is, Garcia said 272 athletes are assured of slots in the RP delegation based on the criteria set by the task force. These include gold and silver medalists in the 2005 Manila SEA Games.

There are 181 gold medalists, including those in team sports, and 91 silver medalists for the Philippines in the last SEA Games, and five other medalists in the 2006 Doha Asian Games who did not compete in the SEA Games.

There’s nothing wrong with this number, according to Garcia. But what worries the task force members is the insistence of some NSAs to include the 70 bronze medalists in the last SEA Games.

Worse, these NSAs have also prepared a list of 304 other athletes, all non-medalists even in the SEA Games, whom they want to be included in the RP delegation for the Dec. 6 to 16 event.

“If we allow this to happen, that gives you a total of 651 athletes and with probably 300 officials and staff members, the members of the Philippine delegation could reach 1,000,” said Garcia.

“And at P75,000 per person, that becomes P75 million.

Where will we get the money? This is too big for us.

So we cannot allow this to get out of hand,” he added.

There is no definite budget yet for the SEA Games, since officials have agreed to determine the size of the delegation first. But previously, the PSC said it could spend as much as P50 million this time.

“We do not want to deny a qualified athlete inclusion to the team because he or she won’t fit in the budget.

Or put in athletes who are not really qualified if there’s an excess in the budget,” PSC chairman Butch Ramirez explained.

“We will prepare and announce the budget when all the qualified athletes are already identified,” he added.

If he could have his way, Garcia said the number of athletes should not go beyond 400. Aside from those who have met the criteria, the other to be included should pass through proper justification.

“This will be the topic of discussion when we meet the NSAs on Monday and Tuesday. We will not look for funds for athletes who are not really qualified,” said Garcia.