The Philippines will bid for the hosting of the 2030 Asian Games, Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) head Alan Peter Cayetano said on Thursday.
"[Philippine Olympic Committee] President Bambol Tolentino will make the official announcement, but he told me the other night that they will definitely make a bid for the 2030 Asian Games," Cayetano told reporters when he dropped by the World Trade Center, where the fencing competition of the 30th Southeast Asian Games is held.
Cayetano also shared that "officials that are in the know here said that we have a very good chance" because the Philippines has the proper facilities as compared to those countries who are also planning to submit a bid.
If the Philippines does win the bid, Cayetano said the country should "start thinking long term."
"That's the challenge for our country. As you know, we knew in 2015 that we would be hosting the SEA Games this year, but we only started our preparations in 2017. If we win the bid for the Asian Games, there will be three presidents during that span. We should learn from this experience, and start preparing, like in relay events. You pass it along to the next."
"This 10-year plan is a perfect challenge for us Filipinos if we can build world standard facilities for the Asian Games, and if we can support our athletes, not just for three months or two weeks, but for 10 years," he added.
After receiving positive feedback on the opening, the PHISGOC head also said everyone within their committee is "working hard" for the staging of the closing ceremonies.
"They're more inspired upon seeing the the reactions after the opening [ceremony]. The closing is usually an inclusive celebration, not only with our country, but with all the athletes... I continue to pray that we end up as the overall champion. If we achieve that, let's show good sportsmanship and unite with the athletes from the other countries."
In the country's last SEA Games hosting, the Philippines finished with 290 total medals. In the 2017 edition, the country only finished in 6th place, winning a total of just 121 medals. As of posting, the Philippines leads the overall medal tally with 120 medals, over 50 of which are golds.
Cayetano said he has been pleased with the performance of the Filipino athletes so far.
"It's says that our athletes, despite the challenges and problems, despite all of the noise and the politics in sports and in our country, are world-class," he said. "But it also tells us that if we do more, they can also achieve more."