illIIILA@BUT.I.
ETIII
Controversial
SEA Games
total ofF1.5 billion in taxpay-
ers' money earmarked for the
3oth Southeast Asian Games
SEA Games) has reportedly
been released so far by government
tb a private foundation. Based on
reports, this foundation has no track
record of managing sporting activi-
ties - not even at the level of school
intramurais.
With the Games slated to oPen on
November 30 , the staging of this event
is neck-deep in controversy, and at
the core of this controversy is speaker
AIIan Peter Cayetano of the House of
Representatives. He chairs the private
foundation which is the recipient of
billions in taxpayers) money. Some
'observers
find it ironic that the speak-
er now finds the foundation embroiled
in a billion-peso scandal.
According to some reports, the pri -
vate foundation - the Philippine SEA
cames organizing committee (PHs-
GOC) - \trras incorporated only late last
year. Yet it has been placed in charge
of game preparations and manage-
ment, rather than the two govern-
ment sports agencies. Cayetano was
still foreign affairs secretarywhen he
convinced Congress to put thebudget
for the cames amounting to F7.5 bil-
lion in the budget of the Department
of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
The speaker is not lmown to be a
sports patron or an active sportsman...
fhe PfttSCOc is not even entirely'
private sector in nature as it includes
officials of the Philippine Sports
Commission (PSC) and the Philippine
Olympic Committee (POC). Iriterest-
ingly, it has been reported that it has
in itsboard certain individuals Imown
to be friends and associates of the
speaker, including, allegedly, an em-
ployee of the Taguig City Hall.
In explaining the role ofPHISGoc'
the speaker told the Senate that PSc
and Poc were "overwhelmed and
lacked procurement la\ ryerstobid out
contracts.'r Even the Department of
Budget and Management (DBM) could
not handle the procurement needs of
, November 27, 2019
GOVTRNANCT
MATTERS
JIJOMAR C..BIIIAY
T()RMTR\lIGT PRTSIDTIIT
the sports agencG, he said. That is
where the PHISGoC came in, since as
a private foundation, it can supposedly
receive "financial assistance" from
govemment without being covered by
procurement rules.
why the Poc.and PSC would find
themselves in a bind over Procure-
ment rules is perplexing. we have
hosted regional games in the Past, all
of them using government money.
why is there even a need for a newlY
incorporated foundation, especially
when the speaker and sports officials
admitted - when asked at the Senate
- that there are
other options.
Besides, we of-
fered to ho st
the 3oth ASfAN
Games several
years back.
Little is
known about the foundation. Last
July, PHISGOC made the headlines
when Malacaffang ordered its inves-
tigation for alleged corruption. Its bid
to manage the SEA Games was also
rejected.and the staging bfthe cames
was supposedly to be handled solely
by government.
Organizing major sporting events
onthe scale and magnitude ofthe sEA
Games is not a walk in the park. It re-
quires skilled hands. It is no place for
amateurs and this early the amateur-
ism is showing.
Of course there are real issues
that need to be addressed. A sup-
posedly overpriced cauldron and al-
legedly overpriced athletic gear are
among them. But so are more urgent
concerns like unfinished venmes,
chaotic preparations that forced a
participating team to sleep on hotel
floors, the'(uniform'i food and lackof
provisions, and threats of volunteers
not showing up after the promised al-
lowances were not released, These are
issues that impact on the performance
of athletes. They inpact on how our
neighbors see us as hosts.
. A sports writer has called the SEA
Games as allegedly the most expensive
sports extravaganza the country has
ever hosted. 'rEvery day,,,he said,
'(smallbits ofoverpricing come to the
fore,. including socks costing pl,6oo'
a pair."
Thus far, the speaker and his de-
fenders have responded to questions
and criticisms by dismissing them
as politically motivated noise from
yellow groups. Comparison has been
drawn with the hosting of the ASEAN
Summit, which is not apples-to-
apples comparison. Comparison was
also made with the cobt ofSingaporets
cauldron when it hosted the SEA
cames. ours is much cheaper, they
say. But the defenders seem to forget
that Singapore has a higherper capita
and a lower poverty index.
We truly hope that the organizers
will be able to overcome the many
logistical problems they are facing.
Let me emphasize that we wish the
SEAGames to succeed, but there must
be, at the end, transparency and ac-
countability.
jcbinayu@gmail.com
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