This edition was marked by the first major

decentralization in the history of the Games, with

competition venues spread in 23 cities across the
country and divided into 4 clusters; all were located
on the island of Luzon (Metro Manila, Clark,
Subic/Olongapo, and a fourth cluster consisting of
standalone venues in Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, and
La Union). This was the Philippines' fourth time to
host the games, and its first since 2005. Previously,
it had also hosted the 1981 and 1991 editions of the
games. This edition was most notable for being the
first edition to include esports and obstacle course
as well as having the highest number of sports in
the history of the games, at a total of 56.

The hosting rights were originally awarded to Brunei

in 2012, but the country pulled out days before the
2015 Southeast Asian Games due to "financial and
logistical reasons."
The Philippines was previously slated to host 2023
Southeast Asian Games but, in July 2015, it agreed
to host the games after Brunei's withdrawal (with
Cambodia taking its place for 2023). However, the
Philippines' hosting was left uncertain following the
withdrawal of government support two years later
as it planned to use the funds intended for the
games for the rehabilitation of Marawi after being
occupied by ISIS supporters. Thailand and Indonesia
offered to host the games with the latter planning to
reuse the venues used for the 2018 Asian Games.
However, by 16 August 2017, the Philippine
government announced the reversal of the
withdrawal

Host country Philippines emerged in the medal tally

as the overall champion for the first time in 14
years, breaking its own medal count record in the
2005 Southeast Asian Games, followed by Vietnam
and Thailand. Several national records were broken
during the games. Amidst initial controversies and
problems, the games were deemed generally
successful with the rising standard of competition
amongst the Southeast Asian nations; with its
hosting being lauded by the Olympic Council of Asia
for its facilities and hospitality, recommending the
Philippines to bid for the 2030 Asian Games