Philippines ready to host SEA Games

The Philippines is ready to host the 23rd Southeast Asian Games next month despite the country's tight finances, officials said yesterday.

The Philippines has raised more than 80 percent of the 1.1 billion peso ($19.6 million; Dh 71.9 million) budget, with most of the donations coming from some of the country's top corporations, said Jose Cojuangco Jr., president of the Philippine Olympic Committee.

More than 7,000 athletes and officials from ten Southeast Asian countries and East Timor will be competing in 41 events on November 27-December 5.

Philippine police, mindful of the recent bombings in Bali, have laid out strict security measures.

Police Director Rodolfo Tor, chairman of the games' security committee, said 15,000 police, soldiers and private security guards will be deployed.

He said police have not received any reports of specific threats against the games, and there is "ample intelligence" in place to get advanced warnings.

He noted that security measures were put in place several months ago.

As a way of spreading costs and encouraging participation of local officials and communities, some of the events will be held outside metropolitan Manila, Cojuangco said.

"There is more excitement there than here in metro Manila," he told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

Boxing, soccer, weightlifting, beach and indoor volleyball will be played in Bacolod on the central island of Negros. The Subic Bay Freeport, the former US Naval base west of Manila, will be the venue for archery, canoe-kayak racing, sailing and triathlon.

Central Cebu, the country's second largest urban centre, will host cycling, judo, karate, the martial art pencak silat, sepak takraw a game similar to volleyball but played without the hands and dancesport.

Cojuangco said 441 gold medals were up for grabs and he expected the Philippines to end up overall champion with at least 107 golds.

He said most of the country's gold medals "will probably come from martial arts," particularly taekwondo, wushu, judo and arnis a native Filipino martial art played for the first time as a medal sport.