The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) is not giving up on the country’s bid to host the 2019 Southeast Asian Games and POC president Jose ‘Peping’ Cojuangco feels he has what it takes to convince Malacañang to have a change of heart.
“I just don’t think that he knows the real story,” said Cojuangco when asked about the POC’s mission to convince President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider the decision to withdraw the country’s hosting of the 30th edition of the biennial sportsfest.
Cojuangco said the country’s problems with the terrorist Maute group will be over “in two years.”
During the POC’s General Assembly yesterday at Wack Wack, Cojuangco revealed that the POC Board unanimously approved that the hosting of the 2019 SEAG should proceed.
“Imagine the benefits the country will get from hosting?” said Cojuangco, stressing that the private sector will lend a hand in the hosting, saving the government from the financial burden of spending for everything.
It was the Philippine Sports Commission that announced government’s decision to pull out of the 2019 hosting, stressing that resources should instead be channeled to the rehabilitation and rebuilding of war-torn Mindanao.
Still, POC secretary general Steve Hontiveros maintains that government support is vital in staging the SEAG.