MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez has expressed confidence that the Philippines will win the overall Southeast Asian (SEA) Games overall title.

Ramirez believes that the P1-billion investment on Filipino athletes will bear fruit, not only in the SEA Games but also in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“Never in history of our country has our government been this supportive of the Filipino athlete, financially. Ngayon lang nangyari ito sa pamunuan ng ating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte,” said Ramirez in an online media.

Aside from the food and honorarium expenses of over 1,500 members of the Philippine national training pool, the PSC also spends on international training and overseas exposure, equipment, foreign coaches, education and nutrition of our athletes.

“We want them to be physically and mentally equipped when they represent the country in foreign competitions. Our support to them actually is not just geared for these SEA Games, but even beyond because we want to create a foundation in these games where we can build on our gains,” Ramirez said.

The PSC guides the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) and 56 national sports associations (NSAs) to ensure the country’s success in hosting the 30th SEA Games and for the Filipino athletes to win the second overall trophy championship. (Lloyd Tagbago/IAMIGO/CNS)