MANILA, Philippines – Kumpiyansa si Phi-lippine delegation chef de mission Julian Camacho na kayang magtapos ng mga Filipino athletes sa fourth overall sa darating na 28th Southeast Asian Games sa Singapore sa Hunyo 5-16, 2015.
Sinabi ng POC treasurer na humigit-kumulang sa 300 hanggang 400 atleta ang kanilang isasabak sa 2015 Singapore SEA Games.
“We’ll probably send 300 to 400 athletes to Singapore,” ani Camacho, ang Wushu Federation of the Philippines (WFP) secretary-general. “The deadline for the submission of entries by name for accreditation was last Dec. 21 but we’ve appealed for an extension because of the holidays. We’ll finalize the roster by April 15 which is the absolute deadline for entries by name. The DRM (Delegation Registration Meeting) is sche-duled on May 20-23 and as chef de mission, I’ll be attending to formally present all the requirements of our delegation to the organizing committee.”
Tiniyak ni Camacho, ang Philippine chef de mission noong 2003 SEA Games sa Vietnam at deputy chef de mission noong 2001 SEA Games sa Malaysia at noong 2011 SEA Games sa Indonesia, na lalaban ang mga Pinoy athletes sa biennial event.
Kabuuang 36 sports at 402 events ang nakalatag para sa 2015 SEA Games.
“We’re participating in 32 or 33 sports, leaving out floorball, netball and field hockey,” sabi ni Camacho. “As chef de mission, this is the most challenging responsibility because of the size of our delegation. We’ll bring along a staff of 10 to 15. There will be no Athletes Village in Singapore. Instead, the delegations will be spread out to about 20 hotels so to assemble the athletes in time for their events will be a logistical issue.”
Positibo si Camacho na mapapaganda ng delegasyon ang seventh place finish noong 2013 SEA Games sa Myanmar.
“We’ll definitely do better than seventh,” ani Camacho. “I think fourth place is doable. Let’s assume we get five golds each from five target sports like athletics, swimming, gymnastics, canoeing and shooting. Then, we get three each from 10 other sports like boxing, taekwondo, wushu, judo, billiards and cycling. That will add up to 55 gold medals which should be good enough for fourth place. Of course, we can generate more golds from other sports.”