The Philippines wants to send an 18-man medical staff to Thailand for the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games from 9 to 20 December.

With this year’s biennial meet taking place in Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla, chief of mission Dr. Raul Canlas said he and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino want to make sure every Filipino athlete would be attended to if needed during competitions.

The Philippines will be sending its largest SEA Games delegation of 1,681 athletes as it aims to surpass its 58 gold-medal mark from 2023 in Cambodia.

Canlas, who is also the president of United Philippine Surfing Association, thanked Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio for backing them.

“I planned and I discussed it with Bambol. He actually was very insistent that each city will have its own administration and mini clinic so that we won’t be tired,” Canlas said.

“The nice thing is chairman Pato is very supportive. So hopefully as far as support is concerned, I don’t think it’s a problem.”

Canlas said the medical staff will be a collaboration between the PSC and POC to make sure they will be able to respond to the athletes’ needs while the SEA Games is ongoing.

“It’s probably our biggest medical team. We’ll even have sports psychologists, which we never had before,” Canlas said.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Having each area would work wonders for the athletes as they don’t have to go to the Thai capital for amenities.

With the athletes and staff going directly to their respective areas, the only thing they need to worry about will be the competition ahead of them.

Canlas said they will have a seminar for the athletes to make sure they will avoid getting injured while also steering clear of doping issues.

The Philippines almost missed out on competing in the Paris Olympics last year as it was in the non-compliance list of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The PSC and the Philippine National Anti-Doping Organization complied with WADA and were cleared to compete in international tournaments.

“We want to make sure that we will be sending injury-free athletes. In fact, we’re planning a series of seminars for the athletes,” Canlas said.

“One of the more important ones is anti-doping. Usually, regional events like the Asian Games and the Olympics they’re required to take an ADEL (Anti-Doping Education and Learning) test by WADA.”