by Nick Giongco
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has earmarked P70 million for the actual participation of athletes and officials to the 2018 Asian Games that Indonesia is hosting from Aug. 18-Sept. 2, chairman William ‘Butch’ Ramirez said.
The amount will cover the delegation’s roundtrip airfare, accommodations, allowance, parade uniform and training and competition gear.
In the last Asian Games in Incheon, the Philippines wound up with just one gold medal courtesy of Fil-Am BMX rider Daniel Caluag.
There will be a total of 462 events in 40 sports that will be played in Jakarta, the chief host and capital city, Palembang, the second main host city and two other cities.
Twenty-eight will feature Olympic sports as mandated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), all being played when Tokyo hosts the Olympics in 2020.
Ormoc mayor Richard Gomez is the chief of mission to the Indonesia Asian Games and he has been in close contact with the PSC and the Philippine Olympic Committee to ensure that the country’s smooth participation.
The Philippines is pinning its hopes on traditional performers boxing, taekwondo, athletics and basketball in its quest to figure prominently in the medal standings.
Basketball is a focal point since it was almost 60 years ago when the Philippines won the gold medal in the quadrennial sportsfest.
Interestingly, that gold was won in 1962 in Jakarta.
