Brunei recently backed out of its hosting rights in 2019 and the other member countries during the recent SEA Games in Singapore were vouching for the Philippines to host the biennial event.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Peping Cojuangco said that all it needs is a formal letter of intent before giving it a go.
Unlike before, when the Philippines last hosted the SEA Games in 2005, some of the competitions were held in Bacolod and Cebu, but because of more venues around Metro Manila this time, Garcia said that the country is now more logistically prepared.
“When the country last hosted in 2005, wala pa yung Mall of Asia Arena, Philippine Arena sa Bulacan yung ibang football stadiums, there is a bigger possibility that all the games will be held in Luzon area, the farthest will only be in Subic and Clark. During the last Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, we had to travel more than 2 hours to watch Taekwondo," said Garcia during the opening of the Philippine National Games held in the Rizal Memorial Stadium Badminton Hall.
“We have around P50 million to P80 million to renovate the Rizal Memorial Stadium and Nonoy Aquino Stadium”, added the PSC official.
With four years to prepare, Garcia is confident the renovations will be done in time. Malaysia will host the next SEA Games in 2017.
“The swimming pools, the football fields, tennis courts. Everything are being fixed and renovated for the future. The requirements are being set for international competitions," Garcia said.
Source: Earl Leonard Sebastian of Philippine Star
