With an Executive Order (EO) yet to be formally released by Malacañang, ranking sports officials have yet to go full blast for the country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games set in Clark this November.

The EO is very important to the country’s hosting and without it, organizers could not rev up preparations for the event.

It is a memorandum to come from President Rodrigo Duterte to signify the country’s willingness to accept the hosting and mobilize various government agencies to work for and ensure the success of the Games.

Daily Tribune previously reported that the President already signed the EO and tasked Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William “Butch” Ramirez and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to spearhead the hosting after legislators signified willingness to lodge the P7.5-billion SEA Games fund under the account of the PSC.

According to a sports insider, the President already signed the EO last month and was about to transmit it to the PSC the following week, but some last-minute changes were made.

The source claimed that the EO has been revised at least three times already.

That’s why until now, no EO has been released and some sports officials are already expressing serious concern at the slow pace of preparation being done by the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc).

“Based on my discussion with my executive assistant, Marc (Velasco), as far we’re concerned, there’s no EO yet,” said Ramirez, who also expressed readiness to take charge of the disbursement of fund in accordance to the rules and regulations of the Commission on Audit.

“Although there were some submissions of the EO in the past, it didn’t push through and were returned,” he said.

POC president Ricky Vargas also expressed concern over the absence of an EO.

“We’re still waiting for the Executive Order that will be signed by the President and that will be very helpful in our preparations if that happens.”

Without the EO, various committees in Phisgoc are having difficulty holding inter-agency coordination meetings.

The security committee, for instance, reportedly has yet to formally reach out to various agencies like the Department of Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines and Metro Manila Development Authority to discuss pertinent matters and protocols.