SEA Games hardly moving

With an Executive Order (EO) yet to be formally released by

Malacañang, ranking sports officials have yet to go full blast for the

country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games set in Clark this

November.

The EO is very important to the country’s hosting and without it,

organizers could not rev up preparations for the event.

It is a memorandum to come from President Rodrigo Duterte to signify

the country’s willingness to accept the hosting and mobilize various

government agencies to work for and ensure the success of the Games.

Daily Tribune previously reported that the President already signed

the EO and tasked Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman

William “Butch” Ramirez and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea

to spearhead the hosting after legislators signified willingness to lodge

the P7.5-billion SEA Games fund under the account of the PSC.

According to a sports insider, the President already signed the EO

last month and was about to transmit it to the PSC the following week,

but some last-minute changes were made.

The source claimed that the EO has been revised at least three

times already.

That’s why until now, no EO has been released and some sports

officials are already expressing serious concern at the slow pace of

preparation being done by the Philippine Southeast Asian Games

Organizing Committee (Phisgoc).

“Based on my discussion with my executive assistant, Marc (Velasco), as

far we’re concerned, there’s no EO yet,” said Ramirez, who also expressed

readiness to take charge of the disbursement of fund in accordance to the

rules and regulations of the Commission on Audit.

“Although there were some submissions of the EO in the past, it

didn’t push through and were returned,” he said.

POC president Ricky Vargas also expressed concern over the

absence of an EO.

“We’re still waiting for the Executive Order that will be signed

by the President and that will be very helpful in our preparations

if that happens.”

Without the EO, various committees in Phisgoc are having

difficulty holding inter-agency coordination meetings.

The security committee, for instance, reportedly has yet to

formally reach out to various agencies like the Department of

Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, Armed

Forces of the Philippines and Metro Manila Development Authority

to discuss pertinent matters and protocols.