We, in the PSC, are with him. Let us support EJ and the other Filipino athletes.

The Philippine Sports Commission threw its all-out support to pole vault specialist EJ Obiena as he shoots for his first regional gold medal when the country hosts the 30th Southeast Asian (sea) Games.

PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez said they are closely keeping track of Obiena’s progress with barely two months left before the prestigious 11-nation tournament fires off this November.

Obiena is marching to the biennial meet with chip on his shoulder.

In fact, he was all pumped up and ready to win the mint in the previous SEA Games in 2017, but he crashed with an anterior cruciate ligament injury couple of days before leaving for Kuala Lumpur.

With that, he underwent knee surgery followed by seven months of rehabilitation and conditioning with the help of noted mentor Vitaly Petrov in Fornia, Italy.

But now that he had completely regained his form, Ramirez is expecting the former University of Santo Tomas star to bounce back and claim his first SEA Games gold medal.

“We are closely monitoring EJ’s progress,” said Ramirez, who also stands as chief of mission of Team Philippines.

“Athletics, being a centerpiece event, was infused with government support as is usual in the international events our athletes take part in.”

“And lately, EJ has proven himself more in his desire to chase his SEA Games dream. We, in the PSC, are with him. Let us support EJ and the other Filipino athletes.”

Proving that Obiena is more than ready to dominate, he ruled the Golden Spike of Ostrava and the International Stabboc Spring Meeting in Germany with an impressive mark of 5.45 and 5.51 meters, completely erasing the 5.35 meters tallied by Porranot Purshong of Thailand in the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.