POC tries to avert ‘big, black eye’

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine delegation to the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games chef de mission Cynthia Carrion said yesterday the POC has until Aug. 7 to try to convince President Duterte to reverse his decision of backing out from hosting the SEA Games in 2019 and expressed concern that the withdrawal will leave the country with a “big, black eye.”

While Carrion understands the reason for Duterte’s decision, she appealed to the Chief Executive to reconsider and give sports a chance to unite the nation in a show of solidarity. Duterte cancelled the hosting in light of the Marawi situation and will use the budget for the 2019 staging instead for the rehabilitation of the war-torn Lanao del Sur city.

Carrion said POC president Jose Cojuangco, Jr. is enlisting the assistance of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to seek an appointment with Duterte for the opportunity to justify the hosting. Carrion will leave for Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 7 to meet with the SEA Games Organizing Committee and said a final decision on whether or not to host the 2019 edition must be made before her departure.

“Our neighboring countries are expecting us to host the 2019 SEA Games and they’re excited about it,” said Carrion, also the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president and POC board member. “There will be a turnover program at the closing ceremony of the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 30 and the Department of Tourism has prepared a 30-minute show with about 30 participants in the highlight. If we withdraw, what will happen to the program? Everything is set for the turnover.”

Carrion said it’s impossible to go on with hosting the SEA Games without government support. “I think the private sector could take care of the funding but government support is necessary, particularly in areas like immigration and security,” she said. “When we hosted in 2005, the private sector came out in full support and the staging went smoothly but it wouldn’t have been as successful without government backing.” For the coming SEA Games, Carrion said the government, through the PSC, has appropriated a budget of P87 Million to cover the costs of participation, including transportation and equipment. 

Carrion said at the moment, she’s focused on her immediate priority of assuring the country’s seamless participation at the SEA Games on Aug. 19-30. The Philippine delegation to Kuala Lumpur consists of 497 athletes, 163 coaches and 70 administrative and medical personnel. The Philippines is participating in nearly every event in the 38-sport calendar except cricket. “We’re all working very hard to make this a successful mission,” she said. “We go home late at night and report for work early the next morning. That’s been our regimen. But we’re happy to do it for our country. I’ve sat down with every NSA president to get a heads-up on our preparations and the consensus is we’ll bring home 63 gold medals. If we hit at least 50, that would already be a big accomplishment. We want to finish fourth or fifth overall.”

Carrion said the Malaysian hosts haven’t made it easy for the Philippines. “They’ve eliminated women’s boxing, two divisions in men’s boxing, rowing, women’s weightlifting and softball, among others,” she said. “In gymnastics, they set a minimum age of 18. The International Federation’s minimum is 16 for the Olympics. We appealed to Malaysia to just follow the Olympic rule but we were denied. That took away a sure gold for our 17-year-old champion Caloy Yulo who has won medals at the Voronin Cup in Moscow, the Pan Pacific Championships in Washington and the Asian Juniors in Bangkok. In athletics, we appealed to give Eric Cray a little more time to recover in between events so we requested for a rescheduling. He’s entered in the 100 meter, 400-meter hurdles, 4x100 meter relay and 4x400 meter relay. But again, we were denied. So in between two events, Eric will only get a rest of about 15 minutes.”

The elimination of softball has robbed the Philippines of sure golds in the men’s and women’s events which the country swept in 2015. Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz would’ve also guaranteed a gold in women’s weightlifting. Another gold would’ve come from 2012 women’s boxing world champion and four-time SEA Games gold medalist Josie Gabuco.

Carrion said there’s a hitch in the participation of the men’s rugby 7s team, the defending gold medalist. “They’re now training in Japan and the problem is their Japanese sponsor won’t release the players for the SEA Games,” she said. “I still don’t know if they will participate. They won the gold medal at the last SEA Games. But our women’s team is ready and they’re promising a gold this time.”

At the 2015 SEA Games, the women’s rugby 7s team bagged the bronze. Eight of the 12 players on that team will perform in Kuala Lumpur, namely Dixie Star Yu, Sylvia Tudoc, Angella Camille San Juan, Madille Salinas, Rassiel Sales, Aiumi Ono, Helena Roxanne Indigne and Kaye Honoras. In the men’s squad, only four of the 13 players in the 2015 gold medal lineup are back with Chris Hitch, Justin Coveney, Vincent Young and Gareth Holgate.

Carrion said after her meeting in Kuala Lumpur, she’ll fly back to Manila and attend the Philippine delegation send-off at CITEM (Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions), Roxas Boulevard corner Puyat, from 4 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 10.