MalacaÑang yesterday expressed displeasure with the Philippines’ forgettable performance in the recently concluded Asian Games in Incheon, Korea.
Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma called the attention of the Philippine Sports Commission, saying much more are needed to be done to improve the performance of Filipino athletes.
“The President is of the belief that we can focus our resources on the sports where we have competitive advantage,” Coloma said.
“Let’s just say we are not happy with the results of the Asian Games. And we should be determined to do better and to improve our performance,” he added.
The Philippines bowed out of the Asiad campaign with a lowly 1-3-11 gold-silver-bronze tally, which was good only for 22nd spot, 150 golds behind no. 1 China (151-109-83), which beat host Korea (79-71-83) for the top spot
The Filipinos also placed seventh overall in Southeast Asia behind Thailand (6th, 12-7-28), Malaysia (14th, 5-14-14), Singapore (15th, 5-6-13), Indonesia (17th, 4-5-11), Myanmar (20th, 2-1-1), Vietnam (21st, 1-10-25), beating only Cambodia (28th) and Laos (33rd).
Coloma also called for stronger cooperation between the government and the private sector in raising funds for the training of Filipino athletes.
“There are many lessons to be learned from this, which can help us improve our performance in future competitions,” he added.
The country’s best performance was in 1990, finishing at 13th place.
In 2010, the Philippines placed 17th with three golds, four silvers, and nine bronzes.
Danny Caluag, who placed deadlast in the last Olympics, averted a gold-medal shutout for the Philippines with a masterful performance in the BMX event.
Lightweight boxer Charly Suarez provided the Philippines’ third and final silver on the penultimate day of the Asiad. The two other silver medals came from wushu, courtesy of Jean Claude Saclag in the men’s Sanda -60kg, and Daniel Parantac in the men’s taijiquan and taijijian all-round.
The 11 bronze medallists were archer Paul Marlon dela Cruz, boxers Mark Barriga, Mario Fernandez and Wilfredo Lopez, karateka Mae Soriano, taekwondo jins Benjamin Sembrano, Thomas Morrison, Mary Pelaez, Elaine Alora and Ronna llao, and wushu artist Francisco Solis. - By
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