I may not say this again for a long time, but I'm proud of the Philippines! Our nation is thwarting the other SEA games participants and is having a major gold haul.

When sports officials predicted we'd amass 100-120 golds, I though it was baloney as usual. Well, Philippine officials tend to be overconfident as we often fall short of their 'educated' estimate.

But no, the Philippines is proving its worth despite lacking budget and modern training facilities and amidst monotonous political turmoil. Though we are still far off that gold rush we're expecting, and given that there are still a week's worth of competition left before closing, it's a good start. In fact, it's a great start.

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It's funny how other people react and resort to lame tactics when they lose. I mean, come on, when you lose, lose with your dignity intact and your heads held high. Stupid excuses won't make your defeat any less bitter.

Look at Thailand, several days through the SEA games, noticing they aren't living up to the expectations, they say that they didn't bring in their top athletes. Well yes, and Hitler is still alive. I mean, who the hell are they kidding? If they aren't sourgraping, they're complaining. I love your bagoong rice and all but stop saying we're cheating our way to the top when the facts are shouting we're steps ahead this time around. Officials and referees hail from different countries, which means we couldn't have bribed and cajoled them to our favor, could we?

Yes, I know we're the host country and that it gives the slight edge. But still, it can't be the only reason why we're having a salvo. Bottomline is, we are capable athletes. Period. Why not let Laos host the next SEA Games? See if that argument holds true. I'm 345% sure that Laos will not have the success we're having.

Take the baseball game yesterday as an example. Team Philippines literally obliterated Vietnam in a shocking 38-0 victory. RP isn't really well known to be baseball players, let alone softball players. But routing a team with that score is hardly by luck. Unless we're all on steroids, for crying out loud, which I highly doubt due to limited budget.

I also came across an unintentionally hilarious Malaysian article, "Likely absence of Filipino stars good news for Malaysia", referring to the absence of Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante. Them Malaysians were bubbly and were excited to claim that, due to our stars' absence, they have a high chance of ending their six-year gold medal drought in billiards. Ha. Are they stupid? Don't they know that the Philippines is full of upcoming and established pool players, capable of zilching any Malaysian, anytime, anywhere? They probably don't have any idea that last year's World Pool Champion, Alex Pagulayan, is spearheading our players. Speaking of Alex, he, along with two other Filipinos, defeated the highly-favored Thais in Snooker, a sport wherein we're considered underdogs, en route to the gold. Another noteworthy Filipino pool participant that may have missed the Malaysian's keen eye of scouting is Ronnie Alcano, widely considered as the best 15-ball rotation player in the world today. True enough, Alcano captured the singles and doubles gold medal for rotation. Sorry Malaysians.
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Ah, due to the intense rivalries, a fresh breeze of patriotic spirit rushed within me. I was never really proud of what our nation can do. I am now. But I don't know for how long. Anything can happen after the SEA games. We should cherish this rare moment.