TOP Philippine sports officials are monitoring the weather condition in Nagoya, Japan ahead of the 20th Asian Games opener.
Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick Gregorio said his office and the Philippine Olympic Committee are both observing the situation especially since there are already members of Team Philippines who have been in the Aichi Prefecture as early as Sunday.
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“We’re looking into it,” said Gregorio. “May mga nakarating nga sa amin about the rains and flooding in Nagoya.”
POC secretary-general Atty. Wharton Chan though, advised the Philippine delegation to stay calm and remain focused on the task at hand.
“Hindi naman (concern). Humuhupa rin naman (yung ulan). So relax lang,” he said.
The six-man boxing team arrived in the Japanese city on Wednesday morning and appeared unbothered by the situation despite record rainfall of about 104 mm in some parts of the city on Tuesday.
“They just arrived and mukhang hindi naman affected yung area nila,” said Alliance of Boxing Association in the Philippines (ABAP) president Marcus Jarwin Manalo about the Nesthy Petecio-led boxing squad which arrived from Thailand where it held a two-week training camp.
Gilas Pilipinas also experienced the torrential rains in its last two days in Nagoya and skipped practice on Wednesday as ordered by the local government unit.
“Kahapon (Tuesday) ang lakas ng ulan, pero wala naman baha dito sa amin,” said Gilas assistant team manager and PBA commissioner Willie Marcial.
“Pero nasa news nga dito yung pag-ulan and pagbaha.”
The heavy rain prompted the evacuation of hundreds athletes and officials especially with some of the venues and roads left flooded.
In a talk with reporters, Nagoya Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa downplayed the impact of the rains on the Games a week before the formal opening ceremony.
"The situation is not severe enough to jeopardize the opening of the Games on the 19th,” said Hirosawa in a briefing. “Based on the current situation, I don’t believe there will be any problem to hold the Asian Games.”
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