ORMOC City Mayor Richard Gomez, on his first official activity as the country’s Chef de Mission to the 18th Asian Games to be held in Indonesia August of this year, sat down with the joint technical working group of the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila yesterday.
“We have only four months left before the Asian Games,” said Gomez, who immediately buckled down to work upon his appointment as CDM by newly elected POC President Ricky Vargas.
Budget, medical and administrative staffing, delegation sizes and quotas as well as provisions like luggages, track suits and parade uniforms were among the matters discussed by the 2018 Asian Games Task Force.
Gomez imparted that they will not be veering away much from the estimated team size given by previously-tasked 18th AG CDM Julian Camacho.
“We still do not have the final numbers, but there will be not much difference from the previous projection” Gomez clarified, with adjustment seen to be applied for measurable sports.
“We are strongly considering the inclusion of men’s basketball and women’s volleyball,” he added.
He also expressed his pleasure in seeing good coordination between Judo and Kurash.
PSC Chairman William Ramirez, during the meeting, said that he shall respect whatever number (delegation size and composition) Gomez will endorse for support of the PSC, saying “we leave the decision to the POC. The PSC shall support as best we can”
Ramirez also gave orders to assemble a medical team from the PSC’s Philippine Sports Institute to assist Asian Games-bound athletes.
This is not the first time Gomez will be leading a delegation to battle in a multi-sporting event. He was also the Chef de Mission in the Phuket Asian Beach Games in 2014, where the Philippines reached its best finish since the game’s inception in 2008 held in Bali, Indonesia.