Lack of hype rued barely two months into SEAG

Before it gets too late, the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee should intensify its public awareness campaign regarding the country’s hosting of the 23rd SEA Games in November.

Harry Angping, head of the SEA Games Task Force, yesterday said he feels the people have not been well informed of the SEA Games, which the country is hosting only for the third time in history.

"It’s about time to put up a good public awareness campaign," said the former Manila congressman, noting the weak presence of advertising materials, particularly in Metro Manila, the main hub of the Nov. 27-Dec. 5 Games.

With only 58 days left before the Games, Angping said advertising materials are hardly present in the major thoroughfares. Along Roxas Blvd., streamers announcing a three-day mall sale outnumber those for the SEA Games.

The giant SEA Games billboard which used to stand at the corner of Roxas Blvd. and Edsa fronting the Heritage Hotel has disappeared at a time when Philsoc should have been putting up more.

The SEAG billboard, the only one along Roxas Blvd., was dismantled late last month for unknown reasons. The space that used to announce the schedule of the SEA Games and the number of medals to be disputed remains empty.

"We have to go on a massive campaign. Ngayon na dapat. If we could start after All-Saints Day, that would be great," said Angping who also heads the technical committee of the Philippine Olympic Committee.

However, he said Filipinos are good when their backs are against the wall.

"Anyway, we’re good at cramming. Even those taking the bar exams or the board exams cram. We love to do it on the last minute," Angping told a dozen reporters at the SEAG Task Force office at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

Angping was in Bangkok last week where he represented the Philippines in a meeting among participating countries in the first Asian Indoor Championships scheduled Nov. 12-19.

"In Bangkok, kitang-kita mo ang presence ng streamers, billboards and stickers. Their buses are painted with the faces of their famous athletes," said Angping who was joined in the Bangkok trip by fellow task force member Red Dumuk.

Asked if the weak public awareness campaign is a reflection of Philsoc’s failure to raise the needed funds, Angping said: "I don’t want to say that."

But he said the lockout policy in the advertising and marketing program of Philsoc surely didn’t help.

"Of course. Because it prevented the others from coming in. There could have been a way for Globe and Smart to be there, or Digitel and PLDT. They should have invited all the banks and the different car manufacturers

"If these firms could spend millions in newspaper advertisements, they could have easily poured millions for the SEA Games sponsorships. But it’s too late. Halos wala nang advertising value yan if they come in 45 days before the Games," he said.