MANILA, Philippines — Let Dizon, the coach of the Philippine women’s football team set to participate in the 30th Southeast Asian (Sea) Games, has “repeatedly apologized” to the hotel for earlier claiming that she and her team were served kikiam, a sausage-like dish made of ground pork, but as part of their breakfast.
Earlier, the Whitewoods Convention and Leisure Hotel clarified that what the football team had for breakfast was not kikiam but chicken sausage, contrary to what coach Dimzon said.
READ: Hotel management clarifies SEA Games footballers’ kikiam breakfast controversy
READ: Women’s football teams served just egg, kikiam and rice for breakfast
In a follow-up statement released Wednesday, the hotel said that the coach admitted that she saw the chicken sausage in a plastic container, which the hotel said was not from them.
The hotel added that Dimzon admitted that she was not present during the breakfast buffet.
“At the height of this viral issue, our initial reaction was to be defensive, point fingers, and pass on the blame,” the hotel management said.
“We have, however, communicated to our staff, athlete guests, and our partner organizers, that despite the negativity surrounding the SEA Games, we will continue to put our best efforts for our athletes and our country,” the statement read. “We hope this statement is able to correct misrepresentations on Filipino hospitality and that we are doing our best to ensure above-and-beyond service for our athletes as well as our guests from all over Southeast Asia.”
The management also asked the public who shared the viral post to take the time to correct the issue.
“We can say, in all honesty and with conviction, that the Philippines did not feed its athletes only kikiam for the SEA Games, and we want to put an end to the circulation of this wrong information,” the statement read.
“This experience has only strengthened our love for country and our desire to serve our athletes and international delegations as best as we can during their entire stay with us. We hope our commitment to hospitality serves as a concrete contribution to our country during this time, and we are filled with gratitude for this opportunity,” the statement added.
/atm