Another ranking official stepped down from the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) with barely two months left before the country hosts the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. Phisgoc deputy director general Celso Dayrit formally filed his resignation yesterday to become the next ranking official to leave the body that aims to organize the staging of the prestigious biennial meet set from 30 November to 11 December at the New Clark City in Tarlac. A Phisgoc insider told Daily Tribune that Dayrit attended a meeting yesterday at the Philippine International Convention Center, where he bared that he is relinquishing his position “effective immediately.” The source didn’t cite any reason behind the resignation, but stated that Dayrit — the former Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president — made the decision so that he can attend to some personal and business commitments. “He stepped down effective immediately,” the source, also a ranking Phisgoc executive, said. “He didn’t cite any reason, but maybe it’s because of his personal and business concerns.” Dayrit’s resignation is a major blow to the country’s SEA Games preparation. In fact, participating national sports associations (NSA) have pelted the organizing body with various complains ranging from the procurement of sports equipment to the construction of facilities and rehabilitation of competition venues. Then, Phisgoc chief operating officer Ramon Suzara filed a leave of absence, raising fears among NSA leaders, sponsors and stakeholders as to how the SEA Games hosting would properly run. Jojit Alcazar, the Phisgoc director general for support services, was appointed as officer-in-charge to make sure that Phisgoc would still run smoothly in the absence of Suzara, who flew to Japan to check its hosting of the Tokyo Olympics. Phisgoc director general Tom Carrasco confirmed that Dayrit already stepped down, but stressed that everything is under control. After all, Suzara is still with the organizing body and would report back to work starting Tuesday. “Tats will be back on 1 October,” said Carrasco, who is expected to absorb all the duties and functions of Dayrit following his resignation. “But don’t worry. We will survive.” Dayrit, the former fencing president and chief of the Asian Fencing Federation, also confirmed that he is no longer with Phisgoc. He said his resignation was made a long time ago and he is still helping the organization on his private capacity. “Yes, I already resigned, but I’m still here to help,” said Dayrit, who has extensive experience in sports management and leadership. “We’re still working hard to make our hosting of the SEA Games a success.”