No apology needed in SEAG logistics issue House official
Deputy Speaker Dan Fernandez on Thursday urged government and organizers of the 30th SEA Games to refrain from apologizing for initial grievances aired by participants to the biennial sports event.
Fernandez said that there is no need to say sorry because the country has done its “utmost best” to carry out the objectives of the SEA Games that include the promotion of cooperation, understanding, and better relations among countries in the Southeast Asia region.
In a statement, the Laguna solon said it is now clear that most of the issues raised against the preparations for the games were blown out of proportion.
“Are we as Filipinos going to allow purveyors of fake news, grossly exaggerated reports and political spite win a gold medal for national destruction? We must not!” Fernandez said.
Instead of giving in to the objectives of critics, Fernandez said Filipinos should wage war against bogus news and political malice by “simply ignoring their messages of hate and spite.”
He pointed out that the government and the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) have taken sincere and swift steps at addressing complaints initially aired by participating teams.
“Our officials have offered sincere apologies but this act of humility was merely exploited by rubble rousers in the social media to suit their regretful objectives,” said Fernandez, former mayor of Sta. Rosa City.
The House official noted that so far the host country has been concentrating on achieving the goals of the biennial sporting event.
“The complaints were never about the country’s inability to reach the objectives of SEA Games. We have shown sincerity in making our hosting successful by pouring in billions of pesos of people’s money into the project and by tapping the very best among Filipinos to prepare for the Games,” he explained.
Reacting to the blame-throwing on the expenditures for the SEA Games preparations, Fernandez said this is a local issue that should not concern the visiting SEA neighbors.