A case of the host with the mostest?

A case of the host with the mostest?

Agencies, Manila

It helps to be the host in winning the overall medal standings.

Vietnam won its first overall title at the last Games in 2003, with Malaysia accomplishing the same feat on home soil in 2001.

The Philippines -- powered by foreign athletes of Filipino descent -- is also expected to do well and might end up on top of the heap for the first time in the 46-year history of the Games.

Among the "imports" expected to boost the Philippines' campaign are Filipino-American netters Cecil Mamiit and Frederick Taino as well as Filipino-British brothers James Joseph and Philip James Younghusband, who are part of the English club Chelsea's reserve team.

Vietnam, which is out to prove that its conquest of the last Games was not a fluke, has also sent a large delegation to defend its title. With the Games about to open on Sunday, a Vietnamese official alleged that the outcome of the Games was already fixed with the Philippines expected to take the biggest portion of the 441 medals up for grabs, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.

A Hanoi newspaper quoted Vietnamese delegation head Nguyen Hong Minh as saying that the final tally for this year's Games would have the Philippines win the overall championship with 120 gold medals, followed by Thailand with 90 and Vietnam and Indonesia with 60 to 70.

The accusations have touched a raw nerve among Filipino officials as the Philippines struggles with a political crisis brought about by allegations that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo fixed last year's hotly contested presidential vote.

Congressman Monico Puentevella, who vigorously defended Arroyo in September in the ultimately unsuccessful impeachment bid against her in the House of Representatives, has demanded a public apology from Nguyen.

But Cojuangco, who is also the president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, refused to directly react to the report and said he would wait for clarification from the Vietnamese official.

"I don't think any responsible official would say those things," he said in a statement. "I think it could be a case of misinterpretation. The SEA Games always adhere to an atmosphere of friendly competition."

Cojuangco said a respectable performance by the Philippine team could provide a lift for the country's sagging spirits.

"Sports can bring us together - unite us in this troubled time," he told reporters at a forum.

Executive secretary Eduardo Ermita expressed confidence that the 742-member Philippine delegation, the biggest among the competing countries, could achieve the goal of winning the overall medals crown.

"We are not only hopeful," he said. "We are confident this time the Philippines will bag most of the golds, and we will get the overall championship."