First Gent elated over 49th gold

First Gentleman Atty. Mike Arroyo yesterday expressed elation upon hearing from Philippine Sports Commission chairman Eric Buhain that the Philippines has been awarded the gold medal in the swimming competitions of the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games.

At the same time, President Arroyo congratulated the Filipino swimmers for a well-deserved win, giving the RP contingent its 49th gold in the SEAG.

Buhain also thanked top officials of the Southeast Asian Games Federation and the organizers for declaring the Philippines winner in the men’s 4x200 meters freestyle relay.

During the Vietnam joust, Nguyen Danh Thai, president of the 22nd SEA Games Federation, agreed to Buhain’s request for the federation to review the Filipino’s appeal that saw the Philippines lose the gold medal in the event.

Buhain, upon the instruction of the First Gentleman, formally forwarded the letter of appeal to the Federation during the SEA Games Sports Ministers’ Meeting at the Daewoo Hotel in Hanoi. Buhain’s position at the PSC is equivalent to a sports minister in other SEA Games countries.

"This is for our swimmers who trained so hard to deliver and most especially, this is for the country," said Buhain, himself a former champion swimmer, who also confirmed the computer malfunction in Vietnam that caused the RP swimmers’ disqualification.

Buhain said that the SEA Games Federation’s acknowledgment of the appeal was crucial in convincing president Nguyen Danh Thai to approve a thorough review by organizers.

"Even though Philippine swimming has performed above expectations, I strongly believe, being a former swimmer and coach myself, that the boys own and deserve that relay gold medal," said Buhain.

Miguel Mendoza, Miguel Molina and Carlo Piccio are among the 85 medal potentials and beneficiaries of the "Medalyang Ginto, May Laban Tayo!" project of the First Gentleman Foundation.

Buhain added that the relay team members will be granted incentives for their gold medal win.

Mendoza, Molina, Piccio and Mark Kalaw were disqualified from clinching the gold medal in the 4x200 freestyle relay because of a misinterpretation on the computer report that Mendoza jumped too soon even before Molina could touch the pad.

A printout of the event, however, showed that there was a computer error. It occurred when Mendoza was doing his flip turn on his way to his own third lap.