INQUIRER Sports

FOR THE DESIGNATED POINT-MAN OF THE Philippines to the Southeast Asian Games, the number of gold medals to be brought home by the national team could very well hinge on the size of the delegation.

Chef de mission Mario Tanchangco yesterday said the RP delegation could produce more golds than what was bleakly predicted if the country sends a large contingent to the Laos meet scheduled Dec. 9 to 18.

And that burden, Tanchangco stressed, rests on the shoulders of the Philippine Sports Commission, which committed to finance the participation of the national squad.

?The number of gold medals would really depend on the number of athletes they (PSC officials) would allow to compete,? said Tanchangco.

?We supply the athletes but the PSC has the control,? added the sepak takraw chief and second vice president of the Philippine Olympic Committee.

PSC chair Harry Angping has consistently sought for a ?lean and mean? delegation, a team composed of nothing less than gold-medal potentials.

Angping also predicted that the national team could capture only 15 to 20 gold medals at the most due to the ongoing PSC-POC rift and the non-cooperation of several national sports associations.

?If we have more athletes, the percentage of winning those gold medals would be better,? said Tanchangco, who already submitted a probable head count of 600 Filipino athletes to the SEAG Organizing Committee.