PHISGOC snafu

Tis the season of sea foods! In fact, crabs abound in supply and many of them coming out in droves with the country’s hosting of the 30th South East Asian Games (SEA Games). No, it was not about food but this was how Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda described euphemistically how the reported lapses, glitches and other mishaps in the SEA Games a few days before the grand opening of the biennial sports competitions this Saturday.

Taking up the cudgels for the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) headed by House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Salceda deplored many of these reported shortcomings were found to be total lies peddled in social media, and unfortunately carried in mainstream media. While conceding there were indeed delays in the completion of certain sports venues, Salceda, however rued many of these claims and allegations have been blown out of proportion and magnified beyond truth.

Cayetano’s woes related to his handling of PHISGOC all started with the Senate debate on the proposed 2020 budget bill. Of the many items in the proposed budget, Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon questioned in particular the P55 million spent by the PHISGOC for the “cauldron” put up in New Clark City for the ceremonial lighting to signal the start of the SEA Games.

No less than President Duterte himself justified the P55-million cauldron as worthy of such “intellectual rendition” on how the late National Artist for architecture Bobby Mañosa interpreted the SEA Games theme “Winning as One.” Picking up from President Duterte’s support to this centerpiece of the SEA Games, Salceda weighed in by citing the P55 million was already part of the P6-billion lump sum that was allotted for the staging of the games. 

“It (cauldron) is a little “Imeldific,” Salceda quipped to mean ostentatious, coined from the name of former First Lady Imelda Marcos. Salceda hastened to clarify though the SEA Games cauldron would remain an iconic landmark in the New Clark City that could help attract more tourists and investors to go to one of our country’s major economic hubs in Central Luzon.

Salceda, chairman of the House ways and means committee, carried the ball in defending the embattled Speaker who is in charge of steering the Philippine hosting of the regional sports events in this part of the globe. The Albay congressman called upon the patriotism of fellow Filipinos to defend our country’s singular honor of hosting anew the SEA Games against “the crabs, the shrimps, the squids” which he likened to all those trying to bring the country’s honor down the drain, if not to the gutter.

Speaking before us at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay at Café Adriatico last Wednesday, Salceda shot down questions if the House of Representatives will conduct their own investigation into the issues hounding the Speaker as the head of the PHISGOC. “We’re circling the wagon to defend our Speaker,” Salceda snarled in obvious feigned irritation in response to a query if they will follow the Senate lead to conduct inquiry into the SEA Games after it winds down on Dec. 11.

Since Cayetano is the leader of the Lower House, conducting their own inquiry in the reported mess of the holding of the SEA Games would be suspect as biased, Salceda pointed out. So naturally, he cited, they will just let the Senators do their own probe. “Of course, he (Cayetano) is our Speaker and therefore I don’t think an investigation will prosper in the House. We will support the Speaker, so it’s better if the Senate does it,” Salceda told our weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay breakfast news forum.

This was after Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, chairman of the Senate sports and games committee, manifested in his privilege speech last Monday his intention to look into suspicions that corruption caused the troubles in the country’s preparations as host of the SEA Games. Hence, these reported delayed completion of the sports venues, bungled hotel accommodations, botched schedule of airport pick-up and transportation, among other complaints marred the country’s hosting of the SEA Games the first few days before its formal opening gala ceremonies.

These foul-up and other horror stories were sadly highlighted in various reports in local and international media.

Incidentally, the press accreditations for the SEA Games were similarly in disarray as more than 3,000 reporters and other members of local and foreign media try to secure their coverage of the 56 sports events to be held in various venues in New Clark City in Pampanga, at the Philippine Sports Arena in Bulacan, the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, just to name some of them.  

Except for Cayetano, why was it no one else from the PHISGOC spoke up to clarify, rebut, explain, and check into these claims coming out in both social and mainstream media amid all the ruckus of reported foul-ups? Isn’t it part of the preparations to designate official spokesperson/s for such big sporting events?  

Cayetano vowed yesterday to face on Dec. 12 the Senate investigations into these alleged corruption and other shenanigans, or a day after the SEA Games are over.

Meanwhile, Salceda strongly believes all these brouhaha over the current public perception of the country’s hosting of the SEA Games will eventually die down once all the necessary corrections and remedial measures are completed, done and over with. “There will be a tidal wave of reversal of public sentiment starting Nov. 30,” he asserted. 

He particularly referred to the grand opening ceremonies taking place tomorrow evening at the Philippine Sports Arena all the way to the lighting of the SEA Games cauldron in New Clark City. How this will be done is still being kept a secret to build up suspense and the “wow” impact.

All these reported mess by PHISGOC were generalized into one word as “snafu,” or a confused or chaotic state. The word “snafu” is actually an acronym widely used to stand for the sarcastic expression: Situation Normal: All Fouled Up. It is originally a military acronym slang that stood for “Status Nominal: All Fucked Up.”