PHILIPPINE Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) Chairman Alan Peter Cayetano is confident of meeting budget requirements for the Games the country is hosting later in the year.
After the Senate cut the SEA Games budget by a third to P5 billion—from P7.5 billion—the Phisgoc, Cayetano said, is expected not to run out of supporters.
“The support is coming. The preparations are on schedule,” Cayetano told reporters after the symbolic contract-signing ceremony between Phisgoc and its partners on Wednesday in Taguig City.
The Games are scheduled from November 30 to December 11 in a total 39 venues in Metro Manila, Subic, Clark, Tagaytay City and La Union. And Cayetano is unfazed despite the Games being 10 months away.
“Our purpose in hosting the SEA Games is to showcase our country. We will show our athletes, the hospitality of our people,” he said.
Cayetano, however, said the challenge of fund sourcing has become onerous.
“It’s so hard to do the planning if in the middle of the preparations they will cut 33 percent from your budget—plus it’s already delayed because supposedly we should have been using the funds since January,” Cayetano noted. “As Filipinos, we don’t like to be embarrassed. So we will find a way to show our character as gracious hosts.”
The country is hosting the Games for the fourth time after 1981, 1991 and 2005 and this time, Cayetano said, the Games are bound to rehabilitate existing sports facilities in the country.
“All around the country, its only basketball and volleyball courts that are readily available. But when you talk about swimming pools, tennis courts, football and baseball fields, they are all privately owned,” the former foreign affairs secretary and senator said.
“The challenge is not only to host, but also to improve our sports program,” he added.
Renovations are ongoing at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, PhilSports and satellite facilities in Baguio City.