Countdown to SEA Games begins

ANGELES CITY—Hosting the Southeast Asian Games next year is more than just winning. It’s also a golden opportunity to show the country’s culture, traditions and way of living.

That’s what the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) wants to achieve after it formally unveiled the Games’ official logo, theme and mascot during the one-year countdown celebration last week at Bayanihan Park here.

Committee chair Alan Peter Cayetano led the celebration and introduced the key figures that symbolize the essence of the country’s hosting.

The logo is composed of 11 rings that appear like a map of Philippines.

“This logo is not just a representation of 11 countries coming together to form the Philippine map. It also symbolizes the unity and diversity of Filipino people,” Cayetano said.

The official theme of the SEA Games is “We Win as One” while the mascot is called Pami, which is short for “pamilya” or family.

The last time the country hosted the event was in 2005, when it won the overall crown. —INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON