BAMBOL, POC KEEP FOCUS ON 31ST SEAG

PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee (POC) President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino kept his focus amid the Covid-19 distractions and vowed to lobby for the inclusion of sports Filipino athletes are good at in the 31st Southeast Asian Games Vietnam is hosting late next year.

Tolentino said the POC would lobby for dancesports, arnis, kickboxing and obstacle course, sports that contributed 33 gold medals to the country’s 149-117-121 gold-silver-bronze haul for the overall championship of the 30th SEA Games last December.

But Tolentino, who along with Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez signaled the return of the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on a virtual platform on Tuesday, said lobbying for those sports would be tough.

“We will give them a fight,” said Tolentino, who has yet to ceremonially hand over the SEA Games Federation Flag to the next host as the pandemic forced the cancellation of international flights with Vietnam totally shutting its borders resulting to an extremely manageable coronavirus crisis.

The pandemic, Tolentino bared, also forced the Hanoi Games organizers to drastically cut the SEA Games budget from $81 million to $42.5 million.

He said Vietnam, which is hosting the Games from November 21 to December 2, would definitely reduce the number of sports on its program.

“The organizers have yet to decide the final list, but the projection is around 36 to 40 sports. But one thing is for sure, we want to join all the events as much as possible,” said Tolentino, also the president of the cycling federation Philcycling.

On the Tokyo Olympics, Tolentino said he would ideally prefer that a vaccine be discovered before the Olympic Games are held from July 23 to August 8 next year.

“It would be too risky to proceed with the so-called ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ with no vaccine available yet for the pandemic,” Tolentino told the forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Amelie Hotel, Braska Restaurant, Pagcor and Go For Gold and powered by Smart.

“We’re one of the NOCS [national Olympic committees] which are hoping for a vaccine. In the absence of a vaccine, what should be the guidelines? Will each athlete sign a waiver? Or what?,” he added.

Tolentino said that once a vaccine is discovered, Filipino athletes who have qualified for Tokyo should be prioritized.

“We will make sure that our athletes are prioritized because of the Olympics. And that prioritization could be extended to the SEA Games,” he said.

Only four Filipinos have qualified for Tokyo. They are gymnast Carlos Yulo, boxers Eumir Felix Marcial and Irish Magno, and pole vaulter EJ Obiena. Rio de Janeiro 2016 weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz is still trying to qualify for the Olympics.

Tolentino said Tokyo organizers have to stage the Games in 2021, otherwise the Olympics would be canceled.

“That’s the last postponement. You could no longer postpone the Games, otherwise cancellation would be inevitable,” the POC chief said. Ramon Rafael Bonilla