Funds pledged for RP SEAG athletes
Funds pledged for RP SEAG athletes
Associated Press, Manila
Philippine companies led by food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. pledged at least 120 million pesos (US$2.14 million, euro1.6 million) to fund training for Filipino athletes in the Southeast Asian Games late this year, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's husband said Tuesday.
The cash strapped country, faced by a mounting deficit, has little funds to fully support its athletes, said lawyer Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo.
In a meeting with representatives of at least 18 of the country's top corporations at the presidential palace, Arroyo rallied support for the Philippine goal of winning 120 gold medals or overall championship in the games.
The Philippines ranked fourth with 22 golds in the last games held in Vietnam in 2003.
"In (the) 1991 (SEA Games), we almost made it. This time the overall championship of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games may be just within our reach," said Arroyo.
The Philippines collected 91 gold medals in 1991. Indonesia, which dominated the games then, had 92 golds.
The biggest single pledge of 100 million pesos (US$1.8 million, euro1.4 million) from San Miguel will go to athletes who will compete archery, baseball, basketball and boxing as well as to boxers who will train for the 2008 Olympics in China, Arroyo said.
The other companies that made pledges include Philippine Airlines, oil refiner Petron Corp., Fortune Tobacco, Philippine National Bank and mobile phone operators Smart Communications and Globe.
The SEA Games Federation last year cut the number of events to help ease the financial burden on the Philippines, approving only 41 sports in 388 events - down from 450 events during the 2003 games in Vietnam and 490 at Jakarta in 1997.
The 2005 competition include: aquatics, archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, billiards/snooker, bowling, boxing, canoe/kayak, chess, cycling, dance sports, equestrian, fencing, golf, gymnastics, judo, karate, petanque, pencak silat, rowing, sailing, sepak takraw, shooting, softball, taekwondo, table tennis, dragonboat, triathlon, volleyball, wrestling, wushu, weightlifting, bodybuilding, lawn bowls, muay thai, soccer, squash and lawn tennis.