Amid SEA Games logistics woes, Duterte wants military in charge next time

MANILA, Philippines—The next time the Philippines will host an international sporting event, expect the military to take over the logistics part.

This was President Rodrigo Duterte’s pronouncements Thursday as he expressed his dismay over transportation and accommodation woes encountered by visiting athletes and guests for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

“Next time… the military will handle it,” Duterte told reporters in Malacañang.

“They are better organizers because the entire Armed Forces (of the Philippines) is one big organization. And they are trained to be structural in thinking,” he added.

“The planners in the military, not the soldiers (in the) infantry, the planners of the military.”

Logistical troubles mar the hosting of the SEA Games as foreign athletes begin to arrive and train for the games, which will be held in different venues in Metro Manila, Clark, and Subic and other areas from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.

Duterte also said he would order an audit on the SEA Games budget as he claimed that it could not have been properly disbursed.