PH mission: third-place finish

PSC chair William Ramirez. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Going up the apex of the Southeast Asian Games might be an Everest of a mountain to climb but the Philippine Sports Commission is confident of lifting the Philippines back into title contention.

“We’re targeting third or fourth overall in the SEA Games [in Malaysia] next year,” said PSC Chair William Ramirez.

Ramirez knows what he’s talking about. He was the Philippine chief of mission when the country ruled the 11-nation Games for the first time in 2005—his initial tenure as PSC chief.

The Philippines then plummeted to the depths in succeeding editions of the biennial meet.  Its recent best finish was fifth during the 2009 Laos Games.

“If we can improve to third or fourth, winning the overall title again when we host the Games in 2019 is possible,” Ramirez added.