Games

The 30th Southeast Asian Games are upon us.

Although we may endure increased traffic congestion and other related discomfort, this is a moment to be proud. We are hosting a major sporting event with thousands of athletes and coaches coming to town to compete. Regional camaraderie will be at its best. Our capacity to be hospitable will be put to the test.

We did not have to do this at this time.

This year was Brunei’s turn to host the regional sporting meet. But Brunei begged off, saying it did not have the facilities to host something of this scale.

Thailand did volunteer to host, but the Philippines insisted on taking on the challenge. That happened when Alan Peter Cayetano was foreign secretary.

Since we won the chance to host the Games, many things happened. The siege on Marawi began. Midterm elections happened. The 2019 budget was delayed.

All these things affected preparations for hosting the Games.

Cayetano won a seat in Congress and emerged as Speaker of the House. The budgetary support to hosting the Games was originally lodged at the Department of Foreign Affairs. Cayetano’s successor as Foreign Secretary would not have anything to do with the fund and ordered it turned over to the DBM.

While the Budget Department’s procurement office supervised the expenditure of the fund for the Games, the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) established a foundation to receive private sector support for the hosting.

Since the major infrastructure to be used for the Games were built at the New Clark City, the BCDA got into the picture. The agency supervised construction of the swimming and track stadia along with the athletes’ village nearby. These were all rushed to completion under the tightest of deadlines.

Apart from the facilities at New Clark City, the old ULTRA and the Rizal Memorial Coliseum were rehabilitated. The sporting events were spread out to venues from Tagaytay to Subic. The opening ceremonies are scheduled for the Philippine Arena in Bulacan.

This year’s Games will have the largest number of athletes participating. The size of the delegations meant that our hotel capacity would be pushed to its limits.

The task of moving a large number of athletes from the dozens of hotels they are billeted in to the dozens of venues were events are scheduled is a complex logistical challenge. Hitches here and there are to be expected – especially since Filipinos do not particularly excel in complex operations. The traffic congestion that peaks at about this time of the year adds to the challenge.

Thousands have volunteered to help out in the conduct of the Games. Some amount of confusion in coordination is to be expected.

In the end, with all Filipinos lending support, we hope to complete our hosting of this large sporting event with reasonable success.

Negativism

Unfortunately, on the eve of the Games, there appears to be a lot of negativism in the air. Grandstanding politicians and hyperactive bashers in social media explain this.

Sen. Franklin Drilon leads in setting a negative public mood as the Games are set to start. He took the opportunity of Senate hearings on the BCDA budget to raise questions about the expenditure items relating to the Games. He questioned the cost of building the cauldron for the event.

Drilon, who was among those responsible for cutting the budget for the Games by a third, threatened to cut the budget for the BCDA. He then insinuated wrongdoing by claiming the late architect Bobby Manosa, who designed the cauldron, is the father-in-law of BCDA president Vince Dizon.

The senator eventually apologized for making the false claim. But that was too late. The poisoned attitude he helped foster infected many citizens.

Social media appeared to have been infected by the negativism of grandstanding politicians. The “overpriced” cauldron was panned extensively. The mishap involving the Cambodian delegation was played up extensively – and one-sidedly.

It turns out, the Cambodians chose to arrive ahead of schedule without informing the organizers. They arrived in the early morning. Consequently, the Century Park Hotel, could not provide rooms for them until 2 p.m.  The hotel was also not ready with a satisfying buffet, leading to some complaints about the quality of food served the visiting athletes.

For their convenience, the hotel provided a meeting room for the athletes to rest in while awaiting availability of their reserved rooms. Some of the Cambodian athletes elected to stretch out on the carpet than slump on chairs. All of them took the minor discomfort in stride.

Social media did not devote enough attention to the fact the hundreds of other athletes arrived as scheduled and were conveyed to their hotel rooms efficiently. A number of famous Filipino chefs were also pressed into service to provide quality food selection for the guests.

As the official ceremonies for the Games loom nearer, we hope there will be less of the mishaps we saw earlier in the week.

Thousands of police officers have been mobilized to keep traffic moving and secure the sporting venues. Thousands of ordinary Filipinos have volunteered their time and energy to ensure the success of their hosting. Social media will, hopefully, give them the proper credit due.

As the days progress, the media will hopefully pay more detailed attention to the excellence of the competing athletes. They are the real heroes of this sporting meet.

The real winner, of course, would be that elusive sense of regional solidarity. The Games help foster a strong sense of regional community in this most dynamic part of the world.