Palace congratulates early SEAG winners

The Philippines is leading the SEA Games competition with 21 gold medals as of 10 p.m. of 1 December 2019. #SEAGames

Monica Torres takes the podium for her golden performance in duathlon. (Jonas Reyes)

Malacañang on Monday congratulated Filipino athletes who have brought honor to the country in the ongoing 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games).

As of 1 December, 10 p.m., the Philippines was leading the competition with a total of 39 medals, including 21 golds, 11 silvers and 7 bronzes.

“The Palace is closely monitoring the performance of our athletes in the 30th Southeast Asian Games and is pleased to know that their hard work in training is paying off,” Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.

“We wish the rest of our athletes who will be competing on the coming days the best of luck,” he added.

On those who criticize the opening ceremony on Saturday at the Philippine Arena and who were not satisfied with the performers, Panelo said it was expected from critics whose only desire is to find fault on others.

“I disagree with them. Ang ganda ng sayaw eh (The dances were beautiful), world class,” Panelo said.

“I seldom praise a performance. It was really beautiful,” he added.