Philippines in the Southeast Asian Games

Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC) is the oldest ceremony

venue used for any SEA Games iteration to date.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

To date, there has been 30 editions of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, and the Philippines has hosted four of them. However, whether or not the Philippines is hosting, Filipinos have had their fair share of historic moments, not to mention unpleasant controversies, in the SEA Games.

First hosting
The biennial SEA Games was first established as the Southeast Asian Peninsular (SEAP) Games in 1959. Thailand was the inaugural host, with the Supachalasai National Stadium serving as the ceremony venue. By this time, only six nations participated, namely Burma (now Myanmar), Laos, Malaya (now Malaysia), Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam (then represented by South Vietnam). This is the source of the original 6-ring logo. The host country led the medal tally for this first edition, and Thailand has continued to lead the pack ever since. When the 2017 SEA Games concluded, Thailand has 2,162 gold medals out of a total of 5,810 won. Indonesia comes a close second with 1,752 gold medals out of 5,041 won overall.

The Philippines joined the Games in 1977, along with Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia. In light of this expansion, the term "Peninsular" was removed, giving birth to the Southeast Asian Games we know today. The 1977 Games was hosted by Malaysia, which initiated the expansion. It will not take long before the Philippines hosts its own edition of the SEA Games. The opportunity came in 1981. At the wake of the 1980 Olympics boycott, which the Philippines joined, the 1981 SEA Games was the first opportunity for the country to showcase its sports development. Indeed, with more than 2,200 athletes competing, it was the largest SEA Games to date. The Philippines had its best showing in the SEA Games at the time with 55 gold medals out of 187 won. This has been attributed to the Gintong Alay Project, which began through Proclamation No. 1922 in 1979.

The Gintong Alay has also produced stellar Filipino athletes who made their mark in the SEA Games and beyond. Among them would be the "Long Jump Queen" Elma Muros Posadas, the legendary runner Lydia de Vega Mercado, the "Queen Bowler" Olivia "Bong" Coo, and the famous swimmer Akiko Thomson Guevara.

However, it is not without controversy. Early in 1981, President Ferdinand Marcos has won a rather questionable election which saw him winning the largest margin in Filipino electoral history. In addition to this, the Marcos administration has been marred by scandals connected with the infrastructure needed not only for the Games, but also for the 1981 Papal Visit by Pope John Paul II. More so, the designated sports czar then, Michael Marcos Keon, was the president's nephew. This has been seen as a possible mark of nepotism, especially in the conduct of such a high-level event.

Filipino athletes at the SEA Games

Photo courtesy of FoxSports Asia

Revival of Gintong Alay and the PSC Era
After the assumption of Corazon Aquino as president in 1986, Gintong Alay was temporarily halted. It was restored in 1987, and later integrated in the newly established Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) three years later as per Republic Act No. 6847. Despite financing woes, the Philippines pushed towards hosting the 1991 SEA Games. The mounting fiscal debt at the time was made worse by immediately preceding crises, including the December 1989 coup, the Magnitude 7.7 Luzon earthquake (1990), the Mount Pinatubo eruption (1991), and the mounting pressure on the renewal of American bases in the Philippines.

Then again, the athletes' hearts did not waver, leading to the "91 sa '91" gold rush where the Philippines earned 91 gold medals out of 239 won. It was a tightly contested medal race, where Indonesia topped the tally with 92 gold medals. This record will remain as the Philippine best until its next hosting in 2005. The ceremony venue being at Quirino Grandstand, the 2005 SEA Games saw the Philippines leading the medal tally for the first time in the entire history of the Games (with 112 gold medals). As was the tradition, the homecourt advantage is usually being maximized by the host country to post better than average performance. Similar to the first two editions hosted by the Philippines, however, issues also hounded the 2005 SEA Games. Besides the logistical problems, other competing nations such as Thailand accused the Philippines of cheating in some events (e.g., forfeiture by non-appearance was allegedly caused by not informing the foreign participants of their schedules, and so on).

Golden Arnisadors and E-Sport Warriors
One of the unique introductions of the Philippines to the SEA Games is the inclusion of arnis, the country's national sport. Used as an exhibition event in 1991, arnis became a medal event in 2005 with a total of 17 medals awarded. The Philippines gained three gold medals in winning the event. The return of arnis in the Games in 2019 would see an expansion for the sport. Since it is a non-Olympic event, arnis has not been featured in the intervening 14 years. However, even before the SEA Games, arnis has already been making waves in the international arena. In 1989, the first World Arnis Championship saw Filipino participants emerge on top. Arnis appears to be a loan word from the Spanish arnes, which means gear or harness. Meanwhile, a local word used by some practitioners such as Daniel "Dan" Inosanto is kali, which have a variety of related meanings in Filipino languages (e.g, dagger in Cebuano, stab in Ilocano, blade in Tagalog, and so on). Then again, it has to be noted that arnis as a martial art can be used with or without weapons.

Another unique introduction the Philippines would give the SEA Games is the entry of e-sports, or electronic sports, as a medal event in the 2019 SEA Games. Games such as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang have been extremely popular not only in the Philippines, but in the region as a whole. For instance, the Filipino teams won more than USD 77,000 from the Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup in June 2019. Even bigger prizes have been provided in other competitions, such as the Fortnite World Cup and the Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) 2 the International, both having a pot of more than USD 30 million each. The recognition of e-sports in a major international event is a huge step in the mainstreaming of mobile and computer games as a serious competitive platform.

New Clark City Sports Hub in Pampanga

Photo courtesy of Budji Royal

As for the 2019 SEA Games in general, it also has a fair share of firsts. For one, the Philippines would be using for some of the events its first Class 1 certified sports facility, the New Clark City Sports Hub. By being Class 1, it means the Philippines can host Tier 1 international competitions such as the Asian Games and the Olympics. This edition of the Games would also be the first multi-location SEA Games, as the ceremonial venue would be the Philippine Arena. With 55,000 seats, it is the world's largest indoor arena to date. More so, the 2019 SEA Games is the largest to date, with some 10,000 athletes competing in various events.

Future of Philippine sports in the region and beyond
In the intervening 14 years between the 2005 and the 2019 SEA Games, the Philippines won an average of some 33 gold medals per edition. This is just around as good as when the country first participated in 1977, where the Philippines had earned 31 gold medals. That is, even as the events were significantly greater in number than decades ago. Is Filipino sports in decline? Would the 2019 SEA Games, and in extension the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, buck the trend for the athletes, or reflect it further? Regardless of the results, it must be recognized how sports can be a unifier of peoples, not a divider. In utmost respect of each other, various nations gather together to compete in amity, bound within a set of agreed upon rules and regulations. Surely much leaves to be desired in the conduct of high-level international events, but while history may show a narrative of struggle among peoples, let sports and athletics be an avenue towards peace and harmony for all. Besides, they are made for us to have fun and be enjoyed.

References can be seen here.