Mindanao not ideal for SEAG — Dayrit

The chance of a sports discipline being held in Mindanao when the country hosts the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) next year is very slim but still possible.

Philippine SEAG Organizing Committee (Philsoc) chairman Celso Dayrit yesterday said several factors come into play before a sport can be staged in Mindanao, the most important being the willingness of other countries to go to the region.

"We’re still awaiting a recommendation from the venues committee," Dayrit, who also heads the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the fencing association, told The STAR.

"But we have to consider a lot of factors such as the availability of facilities, and the acceptance of other countries, etc." he added.

Dayrit was reacting to statements made by pencak silat chief Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, who was recently appointed Presidential adviser on Muslim Royalty Concerns, seeking the inclusion of Mindanao as one of the provincial hubs of the 2005 SEAG.

Kiram wants pencak silat to be staged in Mindanao, either in Davao or Zamboanga City, a week after the Philsoc named the National Capital Region (NCR)–home to the 1981 and 1991 editions of the biennial event–as the Games hub.

The Philsoc also identified Negros Occidental-Bacolod City, Cebu and Naga City as potential satellite venues while naming Baguio City, Tanay, Rizal, Carmona, Cavite and Laguna as other provincial venues in "special cases."