Yes we can: Ramirez says PH should aim for top

Philippine Sports Commission Chair Butch Ramirez said on Wednesday the country is “very capable” of coming up on top when it stages the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

“As an extension of the President, the government is spending much for the SEA Games hosting, the government is expecting that we should be on top.”

“We know SEA Games, the people who worked in the secretariat in the Asian Games also work for PSC, and they know that we can win the SEA Games,” Ramirez said.

He said that during the 2005 SEA Games, which the country hosted and ruled, there were only limited funds.

“This time it’s more organized. We have more funds. Why spend this big amount of money if we can’t perform?” added Ramirez.

He said that as host country, the Philippines can choose the sports and number of events in the biennial games.

“The President does not condone cheating,” said Ramirez. “But as host you get to pick events where we can win 30 golds, 20 golds.”

Philippine Olympic Committee president Ricky Vargas has earlier stated that targeting the overall would be a stretch and set the goal to “within the top three.”

For the past eight editions, the host countries mostly dominated the SEA games including Vietnam in 2003, Philippines in 2005, Thailand in 2007, Indonesia in 2011, and Malaysia in 2017.