For several years, the country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games has been one of the greatest mysteries in Philippine sports. Its success — or lack thereof — entirely depends on whom you ask.

For ranking sports officials, it was a glorious endeavor. Team Philippines captured a record 149 gold medals to emerge as overall champion while competing at a brand-new sports complex topped with an unforgettable display of lights and sounds that could even rival the Olympics.

But for ordinary Filipinos, especially the volunteers and small-time suppliers, it was a flop — a huge waste of public funds. For them, the billion-peso price tag could have been used in building classrooms, bridges, and hospitals — not on hiring expensive performers, booking five-star hotel accommodation and constructing a giant cauldron that now stands as a towering reminder of lavishness and excessive spending.

That’s why when National Bureau of Investigation director Melvin Matibag “stumbled” upon reports of allegations of corruption while surveying a lot that will be used for the NBI Academy in New Clark City in Tarlac, the local sports community heaved a sigh of relief. Finally, the great debate whether the SEA Games was anomalous or not will be settled.

The country was awarded the rights to host the SEA Games during the Singapore edition of the meet in 2015 after Brunei declined to host due to lack of resources. When the SEA Games Federation Council was looking for somebody who will assume the chore, former Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) secretary general Steve Hontiveros raised his hand to volunteer.

Upon returning home, then-POC president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco reached out to Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri if he can head an ad hoc body that will organize the SEA Games hosting. The body will be called the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) and is designed to dissolve as soon as the biennial meet is over.

Zubiri accepted the role. But the war in Marawi broke out and no less than Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William “Butch” Ramirez recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte to pull out of the SEA Games hosting so they can divert government resources in rebuilding the war-torn city.

But the group of Alan Peter Cayetano had a plan.

Instead of letting this mega-project slip through their fingers, they reached out to the power-brokers at Malacañang to convince Duterte to revive the hosting. Then, they met Cojuangco and Ramirez before presiding over a news briefing to formally announce the country’s hosting of the SEA Games will push through.

That, however, brought an even bigger problem.

Instead of staying as a simple ad hoc body, Cayetano’s group created an entirely new body with the same name — the Phisgoc Foundation. Suddenly, this new body was tasked to serve as the sole organizer of the SEA Games with the legal personality to decide on everything, including the handling of billion-peso funds both from the government and the private sector.

For some reason, they were able to secure Executive Order 56 signed by then-Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea that directs the PSC and all government departments, agencies, and local government units to fully support and assist Phisgoc Foundation.

Over at the POC, boxing chief Ricky Vargas beat Cojuangco in a dramatic court-ordered election. Although there was some resistance from other members of the POC executive board, the Cayetano group was still able to hold the reins and stage the SEA Games with the Phisgoc Foundation serving as the absolute decision-maker.

Phisgoc Foundation left a trail of controversies from overpriced apparel, notorious kikiam fiasco, widely-ridiculed logo and mascot up to the useless giant cauldron that reportedly cost P55.5 million. It raised a lot of red flags, prompting the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to investigate until it was shelved when the coronavirus pandemic broke out in 2020.

And now, with the NBI and the Office of the Ombudsman reopening the case that had been mothballed for the past several years, the great debate about whether Phisgoc was a sinner or a saint will be laid to rest. The mystery of the Phisgoc Foundation will finally be solved.

I just hope investigators will come up with an honest and impartial inquiry that’s completely free from any political pressure. The time has come for corrupt sports officials to face the music — and rot in jail.