Let’s listen to athletes

Now that the SEA Games are over, it’s time to regroup and assess what went wrong with the Philippines’ dismal performance. Before the competitions started, presidents of the participating NSAs estimated a haul of 63 gold medals. Chef de mission Cynthia Carrion toned down the expectations with a target of 50 gold medals. But at the end of the Games, the Philippines could only show a lean harvest of 24 gold medals, the least over the last nine stagings of the 11-nation conclave since 1999.

The Philippines hasn’t cracked the 30 gold medal barrier in the last three SEA Games, a disappointing downtrend. When the Philippines brought in 20 gold medals from Brunei in 1999, there were only 233 events in 21 sports. In the recent Games, there were 497 events in 37 sports. So in relative comparison, the Philippine performance in Kuala Lumpur was worse than in Brunei.

The Philippines collected 113 gold medals when it hosted in 2005, 91 when it hosted in 1991 and 55 when it hosted in 1981. The Philippines took the overall championship in 2005 and was second place in 1991. Coincidentally, the only SEA Games that Malaysia and Vietnam topped were when they hosted. That’s the criminal truth behind the farcical SEA Games. Hosts are given the prerogative to manipulate schedules, events and even the eligibility of athletes to suit their purposes so that their medal hopes are enhanced.

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The classic example of this ridiculous situation is Myanmar. When it hosted in 2013, Myanmar finished second overall with 84 gold medals. Two years later in Singapore, Myanmar dropped to seventh with 12 gold medals and in the recent edition in K. L., it stayed in seventh spot with seven gold medals. Myanmar’s miracle wouldn’t have happened in 2013 if it didn’t host.

In 2015, the Philippines took home a total of 131 medals – 29 gold, 36 silver and 16 bronze. This year, the collection fell to 121 medals – 24 gold, 33 silver and 64 bronze, good for sixth place. Over 15 days in K. L., the Philippines failed to bag a single gold in six days so the inconsistency in reaching the top was evident.

In K. L., the sports that didn’t strike gold for the Philippines included swimming, archery, badminton, bowling, cycling, golf, karate, muay thai, sailing, sepak takraw, shooting, squash, table tennis, tennis and waterskiing. Swimming hasn’t brought in a gold in the last four SEA Games so that’s a cause for concern considering the sport had 40 gold medals at stake in K. L. Bowling, a source of pride for the Philippines during the Golden Age of Paeng Nepomuceno and Bong Coo, has been blanked in the gold medal race in the last two SEA Games. Squash had no gold medal in K. L. but brought in the most medals (eight) behind athletics with 18 and taekwondo with nine.

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There are extraneous reasons beyond the Philippines control to explain the poor showing in K. L. – the exclusion of women’s boxing and women’s weightlifting, the downsizing of men’s boxing, the unfair scheduling that adversely affected the performance of athletes in certain events and many more factors. But surely, the hosts couldn’t be totally to blame despite the twisted nature of the SEA Games which are far from being sportsmanlike.

If ever the Senate or the House of Representatives or the PSC calls for a hearing to find out why the Philippines performed so poorly in K. L., the hope is to summon the athletes who are willing to speak out and not the officials of the POC and the NSAs. Let’s listen to what the athletes say, how they feel. They’re the ones who battle on the field of competition, they’re the ones who experience the pain of prejudice, favoritism, lack of training facilities, inadequate international exposure, substandard living conditions and performing through the politics and intrigue of their sport. 

Let’s shut the door on officials who have no delicadeza to resign in the face of below average performance of their NSAs, on those who cling to their positions for dear life with nothing meaningful to show for their stay in office. Let’s protect the athletes and give them the chance to air their grievances and opinions without fear of reprisal.