The Philippines intends to prepare the thirtiethvol SEA Games in Clark, Pampanga and the neighboring provinces of Bulacan and Zambales as we present the “latest Philippines” to our Southeast Asian neighbors.
Foreign Affairs Section Alan Peter Cayetano, designated chairman of the 2019 SEA Games Organizing Committee, bared this in an interview with Filipino sports journalists yesterday on the sidelines of the semi-final matches of the SEAG volleyball competition on the Malaysian International Trade and Exhibition Center.
The very first thing to do is to find out the structure of the organizing group for the country’s fourth host of the biennial meeting since 1981.
“It’s a great, great opportunity to do three things. Number one is to introduce the new Philippines. Secondly, showing Filipino hospitality. And third, focus on training and the civic sports program in the Philippines,” Cayetano said.
“Of course we wish our athletes to win. This is at all times an aspirational goal. But because we also represent our country, to see hospitality, to see brotherhood, which is largely what sports represents and what the Olympic Games were created for. To see the fantastic thing about the Filipinos, the fantastic thing about the Philippines.
A consensus appears to have been reached to construct a brand new sports center within the sprawling Clark District of Angeles, Pampanga, to serve because the principal center for the 2019 Games and training facilities for Filipino athletes for other future international events.
“With or without hosting in 2019, there may (be) 50 to 100 hectares in New Clark City that were really reserved for sports,” he said. “(It may very well be) a training center. We have at all times desired to have a training center, no matter whether we’re the hosts or not. But we’re giving a listing of what’s doable in two years because we usually are not sure if we will complete it in a yr and a half. But almost certainly we could have matches in November, so we’ve got over two years.
“I’m actually looking at 2019 (SEA Games) and 2020 (Olympic Games),” he said. “So over the next two years, if we can build the facilities we need, but more than that, build our teams, support our teams, support the groups that support sports programs at the local level, that will be a good start to the next two years. Then sana tuloy-tuloy na (hopefully the program will continue).”
They are also considering Zambales and Bulacan on account of their proximity to Clark.
“This can also be a request from the participants. They don’t need to fly,” Cayetano said.
“This could possibly be prolonged to other people, but we’re still talking about it. We is not going to be a very good host if we don’t seek the advice of other countries on the placement,” he added.
In 2005, the Philippines hosted the games across the country, followed by heavy hostilities in Manila, Cebu, and Bacolod.
Source: Philstar.com
