INQUIRER Sports

THERE WILL BE NO FREELOADERS and tourists among the 153 national athletes handpicked by the joint Philippine Olympic Committee-Philippine Sports Commission selection committee for the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Laos.

RP chef de mission Mario Tanchangco said all the RP bets in 21 events, who will be accompanied by 47 officials, have a fighting chance to win a gold in the Dec. 9 to 18 competition.

The 200-strong contingent was finalized and approved yesterday after a two-hour meeting attended by PSC chair Harry Angping and commissioner Joey Mundo and Tanchangco.

Considered the smallest delegation since the country?s maiden stint in 1977, the complete lineup will be forwarded to the Laos SEAG Organizing Committee by Tanchangco on or before the Oct. 26 deadline.

The size of the approved contingent was dwarfed by the Filipino 1999 Brunei SEAG delegation of 345 athletes and officials, which saw action in the same number of events.

?All of them are deserving. No freeloaders,?? said Tanchangco.

Angping said the names of the athletes and officials who made the grade would be announced early next week.

?This is one of the smallest contingent ever assembled by the PSC and the POC,?? said Angping.

?However, I believe it is the strongest. There will be no tourists since all of them are gold and silver medalists (in the 2007 SEA Games),?? said Angping, adding that a handful of bronze medalists which showed tremendous improvement were also included.

Angping refused to make a prediction on the potential gold-medal haul of the country in the 11-nation, 25-event sports conclave in Vientiane.

?As of today, all bets are off,? said Angping. Let?s not talk about medals. But I assure you, the 153 will all be fighting for gold.??

The breakdown of athletes and officials for each discipline: archery (5-3), athletics (9-4), judo (4-2), karatedo (6-2), muay (5-3), pencak silat (4-2), sepak takraw (15-2), shooting (5-4), taekwondo (17-3), lawn tennis (6-2), petanque (6-0), weightlifting (3-1); wrestling (3-2), diving (5-1), swimming (6-2), cycling (4-3), waterpolo (13-1), billiards and snookers (15-3), boxing (12-3), wushu (3-1) and golf (7-3).

Under the PSC incentive scheme, gold medalists will be rewarded with P100,000 each. The silver medalists will get P50,000 and the bronze medalists P10,000.

As additional boost, Angping said the athletes will get an additional three-month training incentive of P7,500 and an additional $100 while competing in Laos.