“I would say that our performance in the SEA Games will be much better (than the previous fifth place standing in Laos last year) because our athletes should be better prepared. We should be at least in the Top 3, not in fifth or sixth spot anymore,” Garcia said in a media briefing.

In 2009 in Laos, the Filipinos collected 38 gold, 35 silver and 51 bronze medals, good for No. 5 behind Thailand (86-83-97), Vietnam (83-75-57), Indonesia (43-53-74) and Malaysia (40-40-59).

Hampering Phl’s campaign that time was the rift between the PSC leadership and their counterparts at the Philippine OIympic Committee (POC), which resulted in a separate “PSC-backed team” and “POC-backed crew” sent to Laos.

“We’ll have one team, one delegation this time and we’ll have more time to prepare,” said Garcia, whose agency is now in the same page as the POC brass in so far as policies are concerned.

As per initial discussions with the POC, Garcia said the plan is to start the buildup for the November 2011 SEAG as early as mid-January by identifying the prospects and showering them with support.

“Our athletes are improving and if we just give them the opportunity, they will perform. Our only problem is we’re always doing last-minute preparations,” he said.

“If we start by January, we can also look after their nutrition, physical fitness, among other things, not just practices,” he added.

To do this, Garcia said the PSC intends to earmark a whopping P400-million for the pre-SEAG preparations, which would include sending the athletes abroad for training and competition and/or hiring foreign coaches to train the team here.

“If we need to send them to China, to Cuba or wherever is appropriate to help them really improve, then we’ll send them there for buildup,” said the PSC chair, whose agency is working out bilateral relations with sports powerhouses like China, Cuba, and Australia to make this possible.

Olmin Leyba, Philippine Star