Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino admits it will be an uphill battle for Filipino athletes in the coming 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.

The POC head is tempering expectations but believes the 1,600-athlete Team Philippines will be able to pull off surprises in the biennial meet set from 9 to 20 December.

With Olympic double-gold medalist Carlos Yulo skipping the regional sports showcase after organizers restricted gymnasts to one apparatus final, and with some weight classes in medal-rich martial arts sports scratched, aiming for the stars would be too much.   

Tolentino, however, has set a modest goal of replicating the country’s fifth-place finish in Cambodia two years ago.

“If we can match (our finish in Cambodia), that’s enough already,” Tolentino said on Monday.

“Because you know, how the host Thailand is. Carlos Yulo will not have an event. They also scratched the weight categories of our medalists in martial arts. It’s still an uphill battle,” he added.

“But we’ll try our best. There will be a lot of surprises.”

The Philippines, represented by 860 athletes, collected 58 gold, 86 silver and 116 bronze in the 2023 edition.

Tolentino expressed confidence that boxing will bring in multiple gold medals.

“We can’t say, but since Yulo won’t be competing, so which other sport will we turn to for medals? Definitely, boxing.”

Tolentino spilled that Olympian Eumir Marcial and Weljon Mindoro will see action to beef up the Filipino pugs’ chances of mining mint.  

“I don’t want to say this, actually, but Eumir will compete as well as Mindoro. Those are the aces up our sleeves,” Tolentino bared.

“We’re able to convince them to fight for our country even though they’re already professionals.”

Also expected to defend its gold medal is the Norman Black-mentored Gilas Pilipinas.

“As we should. We’re defending champions. Of course, we should win gold. It’s like the Asian Games, it’s the talk of the town. So as the defending champion, we should win it,” Tolentino said.

The country’s flagbearers are yet to be decided.

“There are no official flagbearers yet because there are no official game schedules yet. So the question is, who will be in Bangkok by that time? Who will be available?” Tolentino said.

“Our flagbearers might be already in the middle of their competition. It will depend on who will be available by then.”

Tolentino added that 300 slots have been allotted for each delegation during the traditional parade of nations during the opening ceremony. However, organizers might reduce the number as Thailand is currently in mourning following the passing of its revered Queen.