The Philippines is in a perfect position to breach the 60-gold medal barrier when it competes in the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Philippine Sports Commission commissioner Matthew “Fritz” Gaston told DAILY TRIBUNE that they are hoping for a strong performance from Team Philippines in the biggest and most prestigious multi-sport conclave in the region set from 9 to 20 December in Thailand.

Gaston, a former head coach of the national women’s basketball team, said they have been thoroughly monitoring the national athletes’ preparation and they believe that they have what it takes to surpass their previous SEA Games performance of 58 gold medals in Cambodia two years ago.

“Well, it’s very interesting because as a host, actually, Thailand can put in sports that they’re familiar with and others that are not familiar. There are certain sports that they will remove because they’re not good at it. So, that is a big factor also,” Gaston said.

“As far as I know, during the time that we were in the SEA Games, even in Cambodia, we won a lot of medals.”

Gaston also said they will coordinate with current chief of mission Dr. Jose Raul Canlas to determine what needs to be done to come up with a successful performance in the biennial meet.

“We have to talk with Dr. Canlas because he’s the CDM. What sports are there for the SEA Games and where are we good at?” Gaston said.

“Who are the athletes that we can bring there? These things we will be talking about with them in collaboration with the POC (Philippine Olympic Committee).”

Winning more than 60 gold medals has been tough for Filipinos.

In fact, the only time they breached that magic number was when they hosted the event in 1991, 2005 and 2019. They also nearly won 60 gold medals when they emerged with 59 mints in the Jakarta edition of the Games in 1987.

Still, Gaston has faith Filipino athletes will give their all in hopes of getting more golds in Thailand this year.

“In terms of athletes, I think we are prepared to get more medals than that. But it depends,” Gaston said.