MANILA (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government congratulated Filipino athletes for their "noble performance" at the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Indonesia,
"We commend them for their performance in the SEA Games. We congratulate our Philippines
contingent for their noble performance in the SEA Games," Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in Thursday's briefing.
The 520-member Philippine team finished sixth in the SEA Games. The team won 36 gold, 56 silver and 77 bronze medals during the 11- day biennial event in Indonesia, far less than the Philippine Sports Commission's forecast of 70 gold medals.
Critics said the medal haul at the regional sports even was the country's worst in 10 years.
But Lacierda said the government "do not view that as a poor performance."
He added that President Benigno Aquino III is committed to providing more support to the country's athletes.
"The President would like to see that the performance of our athletes is supported by the government funding and so yes, we will support our athletes," Lacierda said.
The government will also focus on sports where Philippine athletes will have a strong chance of exhibiting excellence.
"We believe that if we can concentrate on the sports that we have a strong chance of excelling and pour our support on those sports that we believe we can perform much better; I think we will have a better return on our investment," Lacierda said.
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