We are the champs!

The Philippines dished out its Sunday best and turned a day of reckoning to coronation day.

Filipino athletes came out with their best daily output of 23 gold medals and silenced the opposition on and off the field to become the newest sporting power in the region with the 23rd Southeast Asian Games crown in the bag with one day left in the biennial meet.

After eight days of full action, the Philippines now has a total of 113 gold, 77 silver and 87 bronze medals. It is a marked improvement from the 49-53-76 it scored in the 2003 Vietnam SEA Games.

Only four of the 439 golds are left to be disputed today — two each in chess and volleyball.

Later in the day, the Philippines will officially be crowned overall champion of the Games during the closing ceremonies at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila’s Rizal Park, the first time it achieved the feat since joining the meet in 1977.

Thailand, which created a stir with complaints of unfair judging in the Games, will wind up second with a total count of 76 gold, 77 silver and 109 bronze medals, while 2003 host Vietnam will finish third with 64-57-81.

Malaysia is fourth with 55-47-53, followed by Indonesia with 46-72-77, Singapore with 42-29-53, Myanmar with 13-34-48, and Laos with two gold medals.

Imported fireworks worth millions of pesos will light up the sky during the closing rites where President Arroyo will join the nation in celebrating the momentous event and the recognition it richly deserves.

On a day the Philippines braced for a Sunday surge by its closest pursuers, the Filipino athletes instead did the offensive move, stamping their class in various fronts and finishing the day with their most productive output in the entire campaign — 23 golds at presstime.

That even bettered the hosts’ 20-gold medal splurge in Day 2 that set in motion the country’s serious bid for the overall crown, which the Filipino athletes barely lost to Indonesia when they fell short by just one gold during the 1991 SEAG here.

This time, there was a downpour of gold medals from all over.

The dragon boat team swept the last three gold medals in the traditional boat race, completing a first-ever romp by any sports association of its events — six — at La Mesa Dam in Quezon City; the muay thai bets also took three golds at the GSIS gym in Pasay City; the men’s golf squad ran away with two golds at The Country Club in Laguna; the archers hit their mark for another two golds in Subic; and the bowlers took the most coveted golds in the sport — the masters crowns.

In a way, those feats showed who’s the master of ’em all.

The Filipinos finished fourth the last time out and became so determined to improve on that poor finish the moment the government officially said yes to the hosting of the

event.

The last time the Philippines hosted the SEA Games in 1991, it won 91 gold, 62 silver and 84 bronze medals, finishing a close but disappointing second to Indonesia’s 92-86-69.

This time, the Philippines will finish No. 1.

"I attribute this victory to all our athletes, to all the coaches, the sports officials and even the parents of our athletes. And all of us, too," said Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirez.

"But the heart of this victory belongs to the athletes. This is a very sentimental moment for us. This is the first time that we’ve won the overall championship," he added.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco, also the chairman of the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee, said it’s about time that the Philippines enjoy such billing.

"The Philippines becoming the overall champion in the SEA Games is inevitable. The Filipino spirit has triumphed. The athletes’ and the sports officials’ hard work paid off," he said.

MEDAL TALLY

(As of 7 p.m.)

Countries  G       S       B

1.PHILIPPINES 113     77      87

2.THAILAND        76      77      109

3.VIETNAM          64      57      81

4.MALAYSIA        55      47      53

5.INDONESIA      46      72      77

6.SINGAPORE      42      29      53     

7.MYANMAR        13      34      48

8.LAOS                 2        5      11

9.BRUNIE             0        2        2

10.CAMBODIA      0        3        7

11. TIMOS LESTE 0        0        3