Palace to Phisgoc: Learn from mistakes or be held accountable

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this warning after some international football teams aired concerns over logistics upon arriving in the country for their respective competitions. (File Photo: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson/Facebook)

MANILA — The organizing committee of the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games should ensure that other arriving athletes are not inconvenienced or they will be held accountable, Malacañang said.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this warning after some international football teams aired concerns over logistics upon arriving in the country for their respective competitions.

The football teams of Myanmar, Timor-Leste, Cambodia, and Thailand vented frustrations over issues concerning transportation, lodging, and training upon their arrival in Manila.

Panelo said no heads will roll in the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc), but a repeat of the mistakes will be dealt with accordingly.

“I’m sure they will do better in the next succeeding arrival of the other countries’ delegates and athletes. Dapat kasi kumbaga you will learn from your mistakes,” Panelo said in an interview in Busan, South Korea on Sunday night.

“If not, siguro kailangan accountable sila doon (they must be held accountable there). Pero (But) I don’t think so,” he added.

Meanwhile, Panelo apologized anew for the seemingly ill-preparedness of this year’s SEA Games but explained that these logistical problems were “unintentional.”

“The Office of the President is giving no excuses and as host country we’re apologizing for the inconvenience suffered by the athlete,” Panelo said.

“But as we said, this kind of incidents, given the number of countries participating and the athletes coming here could not be avoided. There will be delays in the transport and the checking in, there will be some miscommunications. Those are never intentional,” he added.

Despite logistical problems, Panelo said there were no reports of any incident jeopardizing the athletes’ safety and health.

The Palace official, meanwhile, offered suggestions to the Phisgoc to avoid repeat of blunders.

“Like for instance, kung ako yun (If I were) in the position of the organizers, di maka-check in sa hotel, e di chineck in ko sa ibang hotel muna. Kadali lang naman gawan ng paraan ‘yun (and athletes would not be able to check in their hotel, I would check them in another hotel. That’s easy to resolve),” Panelo said.

“Creativity lang’yun. ‘Dun siguro sila nagkulang pero baka nataranta lang (All they need is creativity. That’s where they lack but perhaps they merely panicked),” he added.

Panelo assured that the organizers would do better next time.

Earlier, the Phisgoc acknowledged the mistakes and apologized for the inconvenience the athletes had experienced.

Phisgoc, led by House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, vowed to “do better” by ensuring “proper coordination of the arrival details, airport welcome and transportation provisions of all international teams to their respective assigned hotels.”