“I will ask Col. Tamayo for his overall assessment. E not so good showings of the athletes. We will reassess, restudy and evaluate their individual performance and apply the necessary measures to avoid another debacle in the next SEA Games in Singapore,” Garcia told Tempo while watching the championship game between Philab and National University in the first Chairman Cup Baseball Classic at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Garcia said he will also be summoning all the RP coaches.
“They have the responsibility, especially in the training of the athletes. I want to hear from them because they were there. I will give the opportunity to explain why their athletes failed to win. We cannot go on like this,” stressed Garcia.
Garcia said he will talk to Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose ‘Peping’ Cojuangco Jr. for the initial course of action.
“Being the POC president, the ball is in the hands of Mr. Cojuangco. Let’s give him the free hand to take the first step,” he said.
Garcia also lambasted the blatant display of bias by host Myanmar against other athletes, particularly Filipino boxers Rey Saludar, Wilfredo Lopez and Nesthy Petecio, who lost to their respective Myanmar rivals despite being clear winners.
“Garapalan ang ginawa sa atin ng Myanmar. They want to beat our athletes at all cost just to win medals. The defeats of our two boxers were a clear manifestation of their blatant display just to win medals at our expense,” said Garcia.
“What is disgusting is they scrapped some of the events like baseball, softball and fencing where we are strong. They cheated us. I couldn’t help but pity our boxers because they were robbed of the well-deserved victories,” he said.
Garcia also bared his frustration with wrestling for the mediocre showing of the six wrestlers who lost in their respective events despite training for three months in Iran and one month in Korea.
“We sent them to train in Iran and Korea to sharpen their skills and enrich their experience because these two countries are known in wrestling. Yet, they failed to win gold. Something is wrong with the program of wrestling,” noted Garcia.
Garcia has predicted the Philippines will place seventh to eighth overall.
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