MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has expressed anger over the blunders related to logistics and food of some of the athletes participating in the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, which have placed the country in a bad light in the home countries of the visiting teams and guests.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte, in South Korea for a summit, was “angry” upon learning of the “missteps” of the organizing committee in Manila after he was apparently briefed about issues hounding the arrival of teams prior to the formal opening this Saturday at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan and New Clark City in Tarlac.
“‘Yung palpak na yun hindi sana nangyari, kayang kaya gawan ng paraan. Kaya nagagalit si Presidente (Those snafus should never have happened, ways could have easily been found to deal with them. That’s why the President is angry),” Panelo said over state-run Radyo Pilipinas yesterday.
Panelo said these issues could have been avoided if the private-led Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) foundation, chaired by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, had coordinated efforts efficiently.?
PHISGOC has been receiving flak since July this year, supposedly due to questionable deals, and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has also refused to recognize the foundation as organizer of the biennial multi-sport event.
Malacañang earlier suggested that the government should handle the SEA Games but apparently PHISGOC managed to retain supervision and control over the handling of the regional sports meet.
Senators are eyeing an investigation into the reported lapses in the country’s hosting of the event but the inquiry will likely be held after the games.
In the meantime, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Sen. Bong Go and Sen. Manny Pacquiao urged the public to first support all hardworking Filipino athletes as they compete with representatives from other countries.
“Dapat nga siguro ma-imbestigahan (Probably, it should be investigated),” Sotto said, referring to reported hosting lapses in the Games, which were trending on social media since Nov. 24 as some of the competitions started.
“Kung may mga palpak at kung may sabit (If there are failures or hitches), let’s say financially, or as far as fiscal policies is concerned, para malaman kung ano nangyari (so we’ll know what happened),” Sotto added.
Go, chairman of the Senate committee on sports and member of the Blue Ribbon committee, said there should be an investigation on the lapses in the country’s hosting of the Games.
“We should investigate the failures that may happen in our hosting of the SEA Games,” Go said in Filipino.
Pacquiao said he is willing to participate in a possible Senate investigation regarding complaints on food and accommodation of some foreign athletes.
“If there is something to investigate, let’s investigate and I am willing to participate in grilling the problematic ones,” Pacquiao told Senate reporters in Filipino.
Go assured the public that he and President Duterte are closely monitoring developments. He was quick to reassure his support to all hardworking individuals involved in the event, from athletes and coaches, delegates and sports personnel.
“To our hardworking athletes, coaches, delegates and all those who have sacrificed to bring glory to our nation, we are all behind you,” the senator added.
He admitted that he himself was disappointed hearing the lapses in the country’s hosting of the SEAG. Instead of finger pointing, Go reminded Filipinos to help each other, emphasizing his call for unity and cooperation.
“It’s already there. Let’s not applaud failures. Let’s applaud the athletes,” Go said.
Lawmakers on the House committee on youth and sports development warned yesterday that controversies hounding the Games might affect the performance of Filipino athletes competing in the biennial event.
Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) party-list Rep. Koko Nograles, vice chairman of the panel, said criticisms hurled against the government over the P55-million cauldron for the ceremonies and problems in accommodation of athletes and venues could jeopardize the country’s bid to win the overall championship in this SEA Games edition.
“If we continue to focus on the bad, it will affect them (Filipino athletes) and it will really take its toll on their performances,” he said at a weekly forum in the House.
Valenzuela 2nd district Rep. Eric Martinez, chairman of the committee, hoped that Filipino athletes would overcome this challenge.
“I believe in (the) fortitude of our athletes. They will overcome this as they are used to overcoming challenges during trainings and competitions,” he pointed out.
Nograles said that while they support calls for accountability on issues hounding the country’s hosting of the SEA Games, these should be dealt with after the conclusion of the event.
Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero of 1-Pacman, who is a competitor in the regional sports event as a member of the Philippine polo team, said in a television interview that the controversial cauldron “symbolizes the unity of the 11 countries participating in the Games. It also embodies the fighting spirit of the athletes.”
Romero said the cost spent by organizers is comparable to that incurred by other countries hosting similarly diverse sports competitions. “One million to $2 million is the standard cost of a cauldron. In the Olympics, they spend up to $10 million,” he said.
Blame game begins
Cayetano said preparations for the country’s hosting of the Games could have gone much smoother if the Senate passed the 2019 national budget, which included the cost for preparation of the sports events.?Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said he could not understand why Cayetano would link the delay in approval of the 2019 national budget to the glitches in the country’s hosting of the SEA Games, when they themselves claimed that funds used in setting up infrastructure were supposedly borrowed.
Sotto supported Drilon’s position that the House of Representatives was to blame for the delay in the approval of the 2019 proposed national budget as they changed the Speaker shortly after President Duterte delivered his third State of the Nation Address in 2018.
Sotto said Cayetano and some congressmen might have forgotten that they changed leadership in 2018 and submitted the General Appropriations Bill to the Senate on Nov. 24 instead of Oct. 1, or almost two months late.?The Senate President also noted that Drilon was the one who was able to come up with suggestions on how to break the impasse in the 2019 national budget.
“So, how is it they’re not the ones to blame for the delay? I am not talking about Congressman (Lord Allan) Velasco or Speaker Cayetano, I am talking about the House of Representatives in the Third Regular Session of the 17th Congress,” he added.
As the Senate interpellated the 2019 proposed national budget, senators found P75 billion worth of pork barrel, which the Senate recommended to President Duterte to veto to prevent wastage in people’s money. The President later vetoed a total of P95 billion from this year’s budget.
Drilon also noted that he was a member of the opposition and could not have influenced the passage of the 2019 national budget.
“I really don’t understand the relation between the failures in the SEA Games and what they say is a delay in the budget. In truth, they say that most of the infrastructure that’s been built, money was borrowed for that. That’s why even if they say there was no budget at the time, they had the money because they were able to borrow it,” said Drilon in Filipino.
“I did not want to comment anymore because I wanted us to unite for our athletes. But this House of Representatives keeps blabbing and that’s why we have no choice but to answer,” he pointed out. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jess Diaz, Edu Punay