AFP athletes start buildup for SEAG

MANILA, Philippines — Enlisted military personnel who are part of Team Philippines to the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games in November can now start training.

This after the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) recently approved the detailed service (DS) of 129 of its personnel who are listed either as athletes or coaches with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Without the DS, these AFP personnel cannot leave their barracks and focus on the coming SEA Games.

But because the facilities where they are supposed to train -- the Rizal Memorial Complex in Manila and PhilSports Complex in Pasig -- are still being used as COVID-19 centers, the PSC was left with no choice but to ask their respective national sports associations (NSAs) to look for their own training ground.

“Detailed din sila sa NSAs,” said PSC commissioner and SEA Games chef-de-mission Ramon Fernandez.

It’s the main reason Fernandez sounded the call for help from the different local government units (LGUs) to provide the athletes safer training venues.

Tagaytay, Sta. Rosa in Laguna, Taguig and Pangasinan have already offered to host athletes from different sports while fencing and archery have held their own training in Ormoc and Dumaguete, respectively.

The PSC’s newly-refurbished facility at Teacher’s Camp in Baguio could also be tapped as a possible training venue for a number of NSAs.

Fernandez said they have targeted July 1 as the start of the SEA Games training.