MANILA, Philippines - Frank Elizalde, the International Olympic Committee representative to the Philippines, described Team Philippines as the “Philippine Delegations”.
There is the PSC Delegation, composed of 151 athletes who won the gold or silver medals in the 2007 SEA Games.
There is the POC Delegation, composed of 100 or so additional athletes chosen over and above the PSC Delegation — those who don’t have gold or silver medal potentials — to give them exposure.
They came here on separate flights, 30 minutes apart.
The PSC and POC athletes received the same set of uniforms and bags from the same supplier, but their designs are different.
The PSC backed athletes received $390 for a 13-day stay in Laos plus $100. They also received in advance their honoraria for December. The POC is hard-pressed matching the PSC allowance, and athletes are complaining.
There are also two groups of media secretariats here — the POC and PSC secretariat.
Both are here to serve the information needs of media covering the Games as well as newspapers not represented here, but they don’t see eye to eye.
Members of the PSC secretariat, funded by the PSC, are holed out at the Main Press Center. The POC group, commissioned by the POC, stays at the Games Village.
The POC group has direct access to athletes, coaches and officials. The PSC media are not allowed entry in the Games Village. They are not issued a day pass to enter the village, so they interview athletes from the fence. – Gerry Carpio