All is not lost for the Philippine baseball and football teams bidding to make the cut for the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand late this year.

Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, the Philippine Olympic Committee first vice-president, Saturday said that both teams can still see action in the biennial meet, despite the SEAG Task Force's announcement that the squads have failed to meet the criteria for their inclusion in the delegation.

Puentevella also expressed optimism that the Philippines can finish a "decent second", behind the Thais in the 24th edition of the 11-country meet.

The Philippines won the overall title for the first time in 25 years when the Games were held in Manila, Bacolod and Cebu in 2005. As it stands, the Philippine Sports Commission can only spend for 600 members of the delegation that includes 450 athletes and 150 officials, Puentevella said.

When there are budgetary constraints like what the PSC is facing now, team sports are always the most likely victims, the Bacolod said.

The Philippine Volleyball Federation has already decided not to field any team in the SEA Games because it has failed to form a competitive squad and has not won any regional tournament this year.

Puentevella, the RP chef de mission to the biennial Games, said there seems to be a solution that will allow the Philippines to parade a 700-man contingent with baseball and football in the roster.

"Instead of spending P80,000 on each athlete, we can spend P70,000 on each athlete, then we can send 700 athletes and officials to Thailand," he said.

The PSC has a war chest of P100 million for the SEA Games and Puentevella said P50 million will be intended for the allowances and airfare of the athletes and officials, P15 million for uniforms and P35 million for equipment.

"Because of the limited budget, the committee has decided to just follow the standard criteria. We have to be strict in enforcing the criteria to come up with a lean but mean delegation," Negrense Philippine Sports Commissioner Richie Garcia said Thursday.

Garcia said the Philippine football team did not win a single medal in the SEA Games, one of the requirements for it to make the delegation. Baseball, although a gold medal winner in the previous SEAG in Manila, was a big letdown during the Doha Asian Games last year.

"The baseball team should be in Thailand to defend its title," Puentevella said.

The POC is set to scrutinize the recommendation of the SEAG task force this week, before finalizing the composition of the Philippine Team in August, two months prior to the October 8 deadline for the entry by names set by the Thai organizers.

The task force recommendation is pegged at 379 athletes. *CPT

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