With no less than President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. vowing full support, backed by top sports officials of the country, the 840-man Philippine delegation is exuding confidence as it prepares to do battle 10 days from now in the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 'Handang-handa na ako (I'm ready) for the gold medal!' gushed 2021 SEA Games bronze medalist and Philippine Vovinam team member Emmanuel Cantores. 'Salamat sa mga sports officials natin, kasama si President Bongbong Marcos, na nagpakita ng suporta sa aming mga atleta, kaya ganadong-ganado akong lumaban para sa bayan! (I'm thankful to our sports officials, including President Bongbong Marcos, for showing support to the athletes. That has inspired me to fight for our country).' The enthusiasm felt by the Philippine athletes was overwhelming. 'Napakasaya pong pakinggan na ang ating Presidente ay very supportive po sa aming mga atletang Pilipino. Isa po iyon sa mga motivations po namin sa team (We are very happy that our President is very supportive of the Filipino athletes. That is one of our motivations),' said two-time SEA Games gold medalist Phillip Delarmino, who will vie for another gold medal in Cambodia's Kun Bokator event. "Ang goal lagi (Our goal is always) to aim for the gold and for the best. Hopefully, this is the year that we can bring that gold. Good luck sa ating lahat. Gawin natin ang best natin at lahat ng ating makakaya. Laban Pilipinas! (Good luck to all of us. Let us do our best. Fight Philippines!),' said national karateka Ricca Torres who is out to better her two-bronze performance in previous SEA Games editions. In his message, Marcos wished the Philippine contingent good luck during the send-off ceremony held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City on Monday. 'One of the greatest pleasures I have found, being the leader, is to be able to give honor and to recognize, hopefully to inspire, and to provide support to our athletes, who are in fact our ambassadors in sport and play a very, very important part beyond just their participation in such important sporting events,' the President said in his speech. 'If there is anything more that this government can do, that this administration can do, that I personally can do, please make sure to tell me because we are all rooting for you. And we all want to do everything that we can do to make you as successful as you possibly can in your chosen events.' PSC Chairman Richard Bachmann thanked the President for the overwhelming support for Filipino athletes. 'It's always good that the President and the country support our athletes. That's a good morale booster and hopefully, we all do well compared to last year. We're all praying for that,' said Bachmann who is on his first major international games as PSC chief. 'The PSC is behind all our national athletes. All the commissioners and myself will be there to watch all the games,' he said. Team Philippines will be vying in 38 sports from May 5 to 17.
Source: Philippines News Agency