#SEAGAMEFAIL

In one tweet, the Games' slogan of "We Win as One", was twisted into "Wiwi as One" to accompany a photo of one venue's
ladies' room, where contractors had put two toilets in a single stall - an image that has gone viral.
A total of P1.5 billion in taxpayers’ money earmarked for the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) has reportedly been
released so far by government to a private foundation. Based on reports, this foundation has no track record of managing
sporting activities – not even at the level of school intramurals.

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 Allan 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 Speaker now finds the foundation
embroiled in a billion-peso scandal.

According to some reports, the private foundation – the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (PHSGOC) – was
incorporated only late last year. Yet it has been placed in charge of game preparations and management, rather than the
two government sports agencies. Cayetano was still Foreign Affairs Secretary when he convinced Congress to put the
budget for the Games amounting to P7.5 billion in the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The Speaker is not known to be a sports patron or an active sportsman. The PHISGOC is not even entirely private sector in
nature as it includes officials of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).
Interestingly, it has been reported that it has in its board certain individuals known to be friends and associates of the
Speaker, including, allegedly, an employee of the Taguig City Hall.

In explaining the role of PHISGOC, the Speaker told the Senate that PSC and POC were “overwhelmed and lacked
procurement lawyers to bid out contracts.” Even the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) could not handle the
procurement needs of the sports agencies, he said. That is where the PHISGOC came in, since as a private foundation, it can
supposedly receive “financial assistance” from government without being covered by procurement rules.

Why the POC and PSC would find themselves in a bind over procurement 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 offered to host the 30th ASEAN Games several years back.

Little is know about the foundation. Last July, PHISGOC made the headlines when Malacanang ordered its investigation for
alleged corruption. Its bid to manage the SEA Games was also rejected, and the staging of the Games was supposedly to be
handled solely by government.

Organizing major sporting events on the scale and magnitude of the SEA Games is not a walk in the park. It requires skilled
hands. It is no place for amateurs, and this early the amateurism is showing.

Of course there are real issues that need to be addressed. A supposedly overpriced cauldron and allegedly overpriced
athletic gears are among them. But so are more urgent concerns like unfinished venues, chaotic preparations that forced a
participating team to sleep on hotel floors, the “uniform” food and lack of provisions, and threats of volunteers not
showing up after the promised allowances were not released. These are issues that impact on the performance of athletes.
They impact 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.
“Every day,” he said, “small bits of overpricing come to the fore, including socks costing P1,600 a pair.”

Thus far, the Speaker and his defenders 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 cost of Singapore’s cauldron when it hosted the SEA
Games. Ours is much cheaper, they say. But the defenders seem to forget that Singapore has a higher per capita and a
lower poverty index
Tarlac, the Philippines - Amid allegations of corruption and massive overspending, logistical mishaps,
and the reported displacement of Indigenous people, the Philippines will end the 30th Southeast Asian
Games (SEA Games) on Wednesday with a victory - at least for its athletes.
The host country scored 387 medals, including 149 golds, as of December 11, the most out of the 11 countries
who competed in 56 sports over 500 events. Thailand came in second with 318 medals and Vietnam third
with 288 medals, although it clinched six more golds than the Thais.
But as the euphoria of triumph begins to wear off, the Philippine government will have to face allegations of
corruption and displacement of Indigenous communities from their ancestral lands that have hounded their
hosting of the SEA Games.
On Monday, Ombudsman Samuel Martires said that the anti-corruption office has created a fact-finding
panel to look into possible corruption in the organising of the SEA Games.
SEA Games 2019: Philippines promotes national
sports (2:56)
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo had earlier promised a thorough and impartial investigation,
saying: "There will be no sacred cow in this government."
The investigation was spawned by the chaos leading up to the opening of the region's biggest sports event.
Viral images of workers hammering away at unfinished structures and a press conference held in a room
made of unpainted cinder blocks raised questions about how the 7.5 billion peso ($147M) budget for the
event had been spent.
The internet compiled the worst incidents under the hashtag #SEAGamesfail.
In a special report, social news network Rappler documented how the government galvanised its online
machinery of supporters to mollify public outrage and manage the SEA Games public relations crisis.
Million-dollar cauldron
A 50 million peso ($1m) cauldron used for the ceremonial lighting of the SEA Games torch came to represent
extravagance and overspending in a country where about 17 percent of the more than 100 million population
does not earn enough to cover their basic needs.
"When I see that our country spent P50m+ on a cauldron, which will be used once, I see extravagance. This
P50m could have been spent on developing our athletes, which is a must if we want to compete and win at
the highest level," said former karate champion Gretchen Malalad.
Two hours north of Manila, in the New Clark City Sports Complex, which served as the hub for the SEA
Games, tourists and spectators took their photos in front of the cauldron.
"I also thought it was overpriced when I read the news, but then I saw how grand the opening ceremony was
and then the Philippine athletes started winning. Well, I'm not an engineer. I don't know how much such
structures are supposed to cost," said Angelo Salonga, who came to watch the games with two of his friends.
Another spectator, Vicente Caringal, a 61-year-old coach for a girls' softball team, hopes that the rousing win
for the Philippines will compel government officials to invest more in sports as a pillar of youth development.
Caringal was accompanied by his team of female players - aged between 18 and 19 years old - who he has
been coaching since they were in the fifth grade.
The team never had enough government funding to buy proper sports equipment or travel to compete in
tournaments. A few years ago, Caringal borrowed $1,000 so the girls could compete in a regional little league
tournament.
"My wife was so mad at me," he said, shaking his head.
Displaced, dismissed and disregarded
Bigger than the controversial cauldron is New Clark City itself, a modern metropolis the government
envisions building over 9,450 hectares (23,351 acres) in Capas, Tarlac about 110km (68 miles) north of
Manila.
The first phase of the project was the building of a sports complex with an aquatics centre, stadium and an
athletes' village specially constructed in time for the SEA Games.
Activists and Indigenous peoples defenders said the structures had displaced the Aetas Indigenous
communities.
On December 3, the Aeta inhabitants of a village were given seven days to leave their community in order to
make way for the construction of an access road from New Clark City to the nearby airport. Protests were
organised against this decision.
This would displace some 500 families, uprooting them from their ancestral land and stripping them of their
source of livelihood.
 Manny Pacquiao: From bread vendor to boxing
champion (2:24)
In a statement, the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), which is overseeing the project, said
that the seven-day notice "is a standard follow-up letter sent to all claimants who rejected the financial
assistance offered by the government."
A financial assistance package of 300,000 pesos ($6,000) has been "made available to all project-affected
people, including Indigenous peoples and farmers at the start of the development", and relocation sites were
provided within New Clark City.
"The Aeta's farmlands, the source of their daily food and livelihood for centuries were destroyed, and they
want to replace it with money that will be gone over time? That is not just compensation," said Pia
Montalban, convener of Kamandang, a collective of artist-activists defending the Aeta communities.
Tony La Vina, lawyer for the affected Indigenous community, said they had requested a meeting with the
BCDA to discuss options and that, in the meantime, the Aetas "will stay put".
"The Aetas want to be assured that they are accommodated. Given the economic magnitude of this project,
there are enough funds available to make sure the right thing is done," said La Vina.
The BCDA maintains that the new project will be built on government-owned land and that no ancestral
domain titles had been issued for it.
"Therefore, Aeta communities are not displaced," reads the BCDA statement.
Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a resolution to open a Senate probe into the BCDA development project
that will reportedly displace some 15,000 local farmers and 20,000 Aeta Indigenous communities.
"We need to understand that it is not just homes and livelihood that are being taken away from them. For IP
communities, their cultural identity is tied to their lands," said Hontiveros in a statement to Al Jazeera on
Wednesday. 
According to Leilani Macasaet, assistant vice president for the BCDA, 500 Aetas are employed in New Clark
City working in construction, cleaning, maintenance and security since construction began 18 months ago.
They include people like 49-year-old Ernesto de Guzman.
Last Friday, de Guzman and his family were up at 4am and at New Clark City by 6am to watch the swimming
and diving competition in the aquatics centre that he helped build.
He makes 450 pesos ($9) a day working as a labourer, while his 33-year-old daughter makes 400 pesos ($8)
a day working in housekeeping.
The local government provided transportation for De Guzman's family and other Aetas, so they could watch
the games that were happening a few kilometres away from the ancestral land they call home.
Righteous indignation
Petronila Capiz Munoz, known as Apung Pet, is indignant about all this talk about money and the need for
land titles to legitimise her claim over her land.
In her home, a few kilometres away from the New Clark City complex, she brings out a messenger bag.
Inside is an envelope filled with legal documents, scholarly articles about the history of her Aeta ancestors,
and even a map she drew from memory to prove that she and her ancestors had roamed and lived in the land
before the Spaniards came to colonise the Philippines.
"They're (BCDA) asking us for land titles but we didn't buy this land - we inherited it from our forefathers."
She insists that she and the Aeta community are not against development, but are angered by the
government's lack of concern for their wellbeing and scoffed at the government's proposed reparation for
displacement like offers of employment.
"What will happen to the Aetas like me? I'm 56 years old. I didn't get an education. What kind of job will they
give me? I'll end up sweeping the floor on the land my ancestors and I own."