SINGAPORE—The Filipinos are still good for 35 gold medals.
That was the fearless projection of the country’s chief of mission Julian Camacho Friday halfway through the Southeast Asian Games.
With action over in the country’s strongholds like boxing and billiards, and after close misses in athletics, Camacho said he is confident the Philippines will hold on to sixth-place overall, a small improvement on the record-low seventh-place finish in Burma (Myanmar) in 2013.
“We are doing very well, although in some sports there were golds that slipped away,” said Camacho, who watched the poomsae team chalk one more gold for the Philippines.
He was referring to the narrow defeat in men’s 4×400 relay, pole vault and the men’s 1,500-meter run in athletics last Thursday.
The country also failed to get a single win in swimming, which dangled a total of 38 golds.