PSC wants to trim SEA Games contingent

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Sports Commission wants to reduce the number of national athletes and officials seeing action in the Southeast Asian Games to ease its burden of financing the contingent’s participation.

PSC Chair Richie Garcia said on Tuesday that the government agency can only spend for the stint of 500 to 600 athletes and officials—instead of the total 800 planned by the national sports associations — in this year’s Games in Indonesia.

Garcia said that according to estimates, the government sports agency would need to set aside about P100,000 for each member of the delegation, or P80 million for an 800-strong contingent.

The PSC earmarked only P30 million for the country’s participation in the Games slated Nov. 11 to 25 in Jakarta and Palembang.

“If we’re going to be strict with the budget, we have to reduce the number [of athletes],” said Garcia. “The expenses could reach between P80 million and P100 million.”

A total of 562 gold medals in 44 sports are at stake in the 11-nation competition, making the event the biggest in SEA Games history.

“That number [500 to 600] is more manageable,” added Garcia. “The way things are going, that should be the direction we should take.”

The joint committee of the PSC and the Philippine Olympic Committee has not laid down the criteria for the selection of athletes.

Garcia said the committee has been monitoring the athletes’ progress in local and international tournaments to determine if they deserve to be in Indonesia.

Previously, SEA Games medalists had the inside track to berths in the national delegation.