SEA GAMES: Shame on you, PH

By: Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

With the arrival of some participating teams of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the country, there has been an abundance of criticism as to how the guest countries were received.

Months after proudly announcing that this will be one of the grandest SEA games Southeast Asia will be able to witness and experience, the country has fallen short of that claim.

Shame.

The Thailand national football team even called the attention of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHIGSOC) that the rooms provided for their athletes are lacking and that they could not fit comfortably.

Shame.

The Timor Leste national football team waited for three long hours before they were picked up by the shuttle, only to be sent to the wrong hotel they were supposed to housed in.

Shame.

The Cambodia squad also complained that they had to wait a long time before they were sent to their hotel rooms, claiming that the hotel staff told them that their rooms weren’t ready.

Shame.

The PH also fumbled their reception of Myanmar’s under-22 football team, where the Myanmar squad claimed that they had to wait for a long time to be picked-up, and added that the bus they rode was uncomfortable.

Shame.

With the total budget for the SEA Games summing up to 7.5 billion pesos, what on earth did the neighboring countries do to deserve this treatment? Knowing that the budget allotted is more than enough if allocated thoroughly?

Shame.

Speaking of allocation, one proof that the country lacked and had the poor sense of budgeting the funds well is investing in the 55-million pesos worth SEA Games cauldron that will be used for the torch lighting ceremony.

What’s funny is that PHIGSOC chairman Allan Peter Cayetano stated that the cauldron was a good investment for the country, and every country that hosts the SEA Games must have that because it is the symbol for the competition and the spirit of the games.

Cayetano added that the PH cauldron was cheaper than Singapore’s cauldron that cost around 63 million pesos, expensive, but not overpriced he said.

Shame.

Franklin Drilon questioned the cost of the cauldron, going on to say that with the amount you can already build 50 classrooms.

Cayetano again defended his stand, claiming that the structure is a “work of art” and designed by National Artist for Architecture Francisco Mañosa.

So because the one that designed was a national artist for architecture, should the price be that staggering? Unless his hands produce magic.

Shame.

I think the worst of all the SEA games hullabaloos is the situation of the football venue, the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

With the games starting today, pictures circulating online showed that the venue is still under construction with scaffoldings still installed around the structure.

Shame.

The current status of the 2019 PH hosting the SEA Games is now the butt of jokes on social media, with countless memes showing disgrace and uproar with how it is being conducted.

It’s still early but it looks like the country’s boast of a grand SEA Games has fallen flat on its face and is even being tagged by some as the worst host of the event. The country also risks losing partnerships not only among the neighboring countries, but also with private stakeholders.

God bless the country, and the 2019 SEA Games.