With a massive budget to dispose of, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) expects a big return on government investment by winning the overall title in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

PSC chairman William Ramirez said the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and national sports associations (NSA) should rally their athletes to emerge victorious when the country hosts the prestigious biennial meet this November.

Ramirez said winning the overall title is a perfect way to repay the generosity of the lawmakers, who recently approved the SEA Games fund of P7.5 billion. The budget proposal is now waiting President Rodrigo Duterte’s final approval.

“Making sure that we win the overall title is the job of the POC,” said the PSC chief, who was tasked to disburse the budget allotted for the SEA Games hosting.

“I think everybody is dreaming of becoming a champion. Compared to our previous hosting, we had less budget and less bright people, but we won the overall title. Today, we have more budget and more bright people so, of course, we should be expecting for the overall crown.”

The last time the country emerged as overall champion was when it hosted the Games in 2005.

Government allotted a total of P300 million while top sports officials, led by former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and former POC chief Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, spearheaded a fund-raising campaign among private donors that netted them an additional P50 million.

The result was very impressive as Team Philippines clinched a total of 112 gold, 85 silver and 93 bronze medals to emerge as overall champion in the 11-nation conclave that featured 443 events in 40 sports.

Expectations are low this year, however.

The POC and Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) jacked up the number of events to 523, including those from sports like floorball, underwater hockey, sambo, modern pentathlon and kickboxing where Filipino athletes have very slim chance of winning.

Even worse, training has yet to go full blast with some NSA still in the process of selecting their athletes.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a ranking POC official admitted that winning the overall title will be an uphill climb for the home squad, especially with a total of 56 sports programmed in the biennial meet.

“We included a lot of sports where we have no crystal-clear chance of winning,” the source told Daily Tribune.

“In fact, our athletes have yet to formally train with only nine months left before SEA Games. While other countries are already in the thick of their preparations, our NSA are still in the process of selecting their SEA Games bets.”

POC president Ricky Vargas also admitted that winning the overall crown is no easy task.

In his previous statement, he admitted that he will be happy if the country will land in the top three, which is a vast improvement from its seventh-place finish last in the Kuala Lumpur edition in 2017.

“We would like to improve our standing from seven to at least top three,” said Vargas in a statement last year.

But Ramirez said that with the amount the national government will be spending in the country’s hosting of the Games, it is only fitting for the POC and the NSA to prepare their athletes and groom them for a victorious finish.

“We’re accountable to the national government and the Filipino people,” said Ramirez, the highest-ranking government official in the SEA Games preparation.

“We have more budget this time so it’s only natural that expectations are high. The pressure is there to win the overall title.”

Ramirez is set to sit down with Commission on Audit chief Michael Aguinaldo today to discuss how they will handle the SEA Games fund. Then, he will meet Vargas and Phisgoc chairman Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday to formally start the SEA Games preparations.