actually it's 38 golds...
RP clinches 5th place finish in SEA Games
By REY BANCOD
December 19, 2009, 3:24pmVIENTIANE, Laos – Tennis player Cecil Mamiit captured his third straight men’s singles title Friday to cap the Philippines’ fifth place finish in the 25th Southeast Asian Games.
Mamiit, the 33-year-old veteran, outlasted compatriot Treat Huey, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, to nail the country’s second gold in tennis and 38th overall.
Huey, who teamed with Mamiit to top the men’s team event, settled for the silver as the Filipinos wound up their tennis campaign with two golds, three silvers, and five bronzes.
Despite the squabbles at home and the scrapping of events where it is considered strong, the Philippines managed to improve on its sixth place finish two years ago.
Making their move in the last five days, the Filipinos totalled 38 golds, 35 silvers, and 51 bronzes to exceed bleak expectations at home.
The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) failed to iron out their differences over the size and composition of the delegation with the PSC sticking to the rigid guidelines that were previously agreed upon with chief of mission Mario Tanchangco.
The POC funded the 98 additional athletes who took one of two chartered planes that ferried the delegation to the Laotian capital.
PSC chairman Harry Angping and his commissioners stayed at home after not receiving accreditation from the POC.
The division, however, did not affect the morale of the athletes who nearly pulled off a top three finish for the Philippines.
The Filipinos ended up just two golds behind fourth-running Malaysia which won the biggest prize of the Games in men’s football.
Thailand, powered by 24 golds in athletics and shooting, staved off Vietnam for the overall title with 86 golds.
Vietnam, drawing strength from shooting, fin swimming and martial arts disciplines, collared 83 gold medals. Indonesia took third spot with 43 golds.
Rounding out the standings: Singapore sixth, 33 (30 silvers); Laos seventh, 33 (25 silvers); Myanmar eighth, 10; Cambodia ninth, 3; Brunei 10th, 1; and Timor Leste 11th with only three bronzes.
Sepak takraw produced the final bronze medal for the Philippines through the team of Metodio Suico Jr., Aleta Junmar and Mark Jean Saavedra who lost to Vietnam in the semifinals.
Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla, the rapid fire pistol gold medalist, finished 10th in center fire and fourth in the team event with Ronald Hejastro and Robert Donalvo.
Athletics was the biggest contributor with seven golds, three silvers and four bronzes, an improvement from the 5-7-9 medal tally in 2007.
Boxing bounced back from a dismal one-gold showing the last time around by collecting five golds, one silver and three bronzes.
Taekwondo also improved from one gold to four golds and added four silvers and four bronzes.
Swimming’s performance dipped from eight to four golds this week.
The swimmers also bagged six silvers and a bronze.
Wrestling was a big surprise with three golds, two silvers and three bronzes.
Despite a double blackeye in the men’s 9-ball pool events, billiards collected three golds, one silver and two bronzes.
Rubilen Amit swept the 9-ball and 8-ball singles events while Ronnie Alcano defended his men’s 8-ball title.
Wushu, Judo, golf and tennis added two golds apiece while muay, karate, archery and shooting accounted for one gold each.
The Filipinos failed to win a gold in diving, weightlifting, pencak silat, water polo, sepak takraw, table tennis and petanque and were totally blanked in badminton.
Manila Bulletin