Philippines’ Duterte calls for probe after chaotic SEA Games build-up

CLARK, Phillipines: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has called for a probe into the preparations for the Southeast Asian Games, which start on Saturday (Nov 30) after a messy build-up marked by last-minute construction and logistical problems.

Complaints over transport, accommodation and food stacked up as thousands of athletes flood in for the biggest ever edition of the Games, which are also threatened by an approaching typhoon forecast to hit the northern Philippines early next week.

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Red-faced organisers apologised and promised to do better, but after criticism grew under a mocking hashtag, #SEAGamesfail, Duterte waded into the furore late Thursday.

"I said let us investigate. Do not create a firestorm now because we are in the thick of preparations," he told reporters.

"To me personally there was a lot of money poured into this activity," he added. "Now I suppose that with that kind of money you can run things smoothly. Apparently, maybe something went wrong."

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Earlier, however, the PHISGOC organising committee chairman Alan Peter Cayetano remained upbeat.

"First and foremost, this is going to be a great hosting," he said. "You will be very, very proud of your country, of your athletes once the SEA Games are over."

READ: Singapores Muslim athletes were not served pork at SEA Games: SNOC

In matters out of its own hands, the Philippines is also bracing for a typhoon which national forecasters warn is steadily intensifying.

PAGASA said Typhoon Kammuri – which is packing gusts of 170km per hour and maximum sustained winds of 225km/h – is presently heading right for Games venues in the north of the country and is expected to make landfall on Tuesday.

TIGHT SECURITY

This year's Games in Clark, Manila and Subic, which run through to Dec 11, are particularly complex with a record 56 sports across dozens of venues that are in some cases hours' drive apart, even before Manila's notorious gridlock traffic is factored in.

The vast scale of the multi-sport event has included erecting a massive sports complex in New Clark City, which is at least two hours' drive north from the capital.

The Philippines' path towards Saturday's opening ceremony – an all-singing, all-dancing celebration of the island nation – has been tortuous from the start.

Manila in July 2017 suddenly pulled out of hosting the Games to focus on rebuilding the southern city of Marawi which was heavily damaged during seige by jihadists.

But officials made a U-turn just one month later after securing backing from Duterte.

Security remains a top concern, and police have increased visibility at nightspots near competition venues and suspended Filipinos' right to carry firearms outside their homes.

Almost 16,000 policemen are deployed in various parts of greater Manila, particularly in the venues and hotels where athletes and other delegations are billeted.