TEAM Philippines Chef de Mission William Ramirez believes the “Miracle of 2005”—when the Philippines emerged overall champion as host of the Southeast Asian Games—would again take place when the country rolls the red carpet for the biennial games’ 30th edition from November 30 to December 11.
“It’s very possible for the Philippines to be overall champion again in the SEA Games. With the government’s full support—in funding—that is very possible,” said Ramirez, also chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission.
Ramirez signed on Wednesday a tripartite agreement with the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and Philippine SEA Games Organizational Committee Inc. (Phisgoc) at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. The agreement focuses on a successful hosting of the games and the Filipino athletes’ domination of the competitions.
With a P6-billion budget for the Games hosting this year, Ramirez said there is no reason for Filipinos not to aim for the overall championship.
“It’s not okay to finish third or fourth. With a P6 billion budget, there’s no room for not finishing on top,” he added.
Ramirez stressed the PSC’s full support to the foreign training of the national athletes in preparation for the SEAG.
“The PSC has already appropriated P600 million for the foreign training of our athletes and we are appropriating P400 [million] to P600 million more,” he said.
Besides foreign training and exposure, the PSC has also allotted additional budget for the equipment of national athletes.
Close to 10,000 athletes from the 11 Asean countries are expected to participate in the Games that will feature 530 events in 56 sports.
This year marks the fourth time that the country will host the biennial meet after 1981, 1991 and 2005.