Duterte says negligence evident in SEAG glitches

MANILA, Philippines — While he thinks that his political ally Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, who also heads the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC), is not corrupt, President Duterte believes organizers of the games committed negligence and failed to prepare for possible glitches.

Duterte lamented that blunders happened even if organizers had enough time to prepare for the event.

“So it is not good preparations. And if we had the money, if we had to spend the money... It was a huge sum. You do not wait for the bus companies to send their buses to help you out. You had so many years to prepare for it. So how come these things happened?” the President told GMA News in an interview aired yesterday.

“And even in the food, and in the billeting of the hotel, they do not know where they will stay. These things could have been avoided if you used the money correctly,” he added.

Duterte said he has formed a team that would look into the problems that hounded the country’s hosting of the athletic event. 

“I don’t know if it’s true. But it’s not time to be talking about it because the SEA Games is going on. And I hope this would be the last time that I’d be talking about it during the entire... athletic meet,” he said.

Duterte has said he does not believe Cayetano is involved in corruption. But he has also expressed readiness to forgo political alliances if it is proven that his allies are guilty of wrongdoing.

Asked whether some people would be made accountable for the blunders, Duterte replied: “If you would ponder on it, it’s actually negligence or unforeseen events that you failed to prepare for.”

Duterte said the availability of funds should have prevented problems that inconvenienced athletes.

“I am not attributing it to anybody. But you know it’s a huge fund and there ought not to have been problems, like logistics and things. Because you can do it, not really with precision, but had you made most of the money then you could have avoided the critical situations, the mishaps,” the President said.