TEAM PHL TO VIETNAM SEAG: 584 ATHLETES, 161 OFFICIALS

THE country will be fielding 584 athletes and 161 officials— coaches included—to the Hanoi 31st Southeast Asian Games set from May 12 to 25.

But Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said 80 more athletes are on appeal in a “Group B” category where their participation in the Games will be shouldered by their respective national sports associations.

“We understand the situation because of the budgetary constraint in the PSC, so we have to employ belt tightening measures as regards to officials and equipment,” said Tolentino after Thursday’s online meeting with Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) officials, including commissioner Ramon Fernandez, the chef de mission to the Games.

The POC initially set a 627-athlete delegation to the SEA Games that were originally scheduled November last year but were postponed because of Covid-19 pandemic concerns.

The PSC has yet to determine the exact budget for the Games participation, although Fernandez already announced earlier that it’s in the vicinity of P200 million.

Members of Team Philippines will fly in two batches aboard chartered flights to Vietnam—the first on May 6 and the second on May 10, thus allowing those in the second wave to still vote in the May 9 general elections.

Filipino athletes will still be competing in all but one—xiangqi or Chinese chess—of the 40 sports in the Hanoi program.

They will be divided into four clusters–1a for Hanoi, 1B outskirts of Hanoi and 2A and 2B outside of Hanoi, including canoe-kayak and rowing in Hai Phong.

Deputy chiefs of mission Pearl Managuelod and Carl Sambrano also joined the virtual meeting.

Fernandez said they will seek Airasia as the delegation’s official carrier.

“We will write Rep. Mikee Romero [Airasia owner] hoping to get a discount, that will be his help,” Fernandez said. “If we get the athletes in chartered flights, they will be quarantined at New Clark City’s Athletes Village before flying from Clark Airport to Vietnam.”

The Hanoi Games organizers set a February 12 distribution date and March 12 deadline for the submission of accreditation forms. The deadline for the submission of entries by name is set for March 12, after which the chefs de mission will meet again, most likely face-toface, on March 18.