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DUE to limited budget, the Philippines will be
sending a lean but mean delegation to the Southeast Asian Games in
Thailand this December.
Philippine Sports Commissioner
Richie Garcia, who also heads the SEA Games Task Force, said they
are considering more than 300 but less than 500 athletes who are all
strong medal contenders.
“Yung gold at silver medalists
nung last SEA Games aabot na sa 300. Pero siguradong hindi lalampas
sa 500 ang ipapadala natin sa Thailand kasi kulang tayo sa pondo,”
said Garcia.
The Task Force will sit down with
all national sports associations on March 6 to finalize the number
of athletes.
Garcia said they have to come up
with a figure the soonest possible time to determine how much is
needed for the actual participation of the delegation in the
biennial meet.
“Kailangan namin malaman agad
kung ilan ang ipapadalang atleta sa Thailand para magawa na rin yung
budget nang maaga,” said Garcia.
Garcia pointed out that
unlike in the Manila SEA Games where more than 800 athletes were
named to the RP delegation, only less than 500 will go to Thailand.
“Last time, OK lang na malaki
ang delegation dahil tayo ang host country, hindi na kailangan ng
airfare,” he said.
To make sure that only deserving
athletes will be included in the RP delegation, Garcia stressed that
the Task Force, which is co-chaired by Julian Camacho of wushu, will
come up with stiff selection criteria.
“We will strictly screen the
athletes that only those who have strong chance of landing in the
medal podium will be included in the list,” Garcia said.
Garcia and Camacho will submit
the entry forms by number of the Philippine delegation in the
Southeast Asian Games Federation Council meeting on April 5 in
Thailand.
--Emil Noguera
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