ERNEST John “EJ” Obiena will be Team Philippines’ flag-bearer in the parade of nations during the May 12 opening ceremony of the 31st Southeast Asian Games at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi.
Hidilyn Diaz, the country’s first Olympic gold medalist, fully supported Obiena, saying that her fellow Tokyo Olympian, a pole vaulter, is the “story of every Filipino athlete who fights to bring home pride and glory to the country.”
“I’m very happy to see EJ as our flag bearer for Team Philippines,” said Diaz, who, like Obiena, will defend her weightlifting gold medal in the postponed Games from last year.
“I’m happy for him and the rest of the Philippine delegation. I will support him.”Diaz and Obiena were initially nominated to hold the country’s colors together in the parade of nations, but the SEA Games allow only one athlete to be bestowed with the honor.
“There could only be one flag bearer for each country. We nominated Hidilyn and EJ, but it was turned down,” Philippine Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said. “Like Hidilyn, EJ has all the qualifications to be our flag bearer.”
Obiena retaining the SEA Games gold medal is a cinch. He won the gold in the 2019 Philippine Games with a commanding leap of 5.45 meters and since then has set the bar higher to a new Asian men’s record of 5.93 meters set last year in Innsbruck, Austria.
“It’s an honor,” Obiena said. “I was heading home after training here in Formia (Italy) when I received the message.”
A big responsibility comes with the honor, but Obiena said he’s ready for the challenge.
“All I can do for now is to train harder and be better, and smarter,” the 26-year-old said. “I really want to defend my SEA Games title.”
The 6-foot-2 pole vaulter is one of 656 athletes set to defend the overall championship in the Games that Vietnam is hosting for only the second time since 2003.
The hosts programmed 40 sports–the Philippines is competing in 39 of them–which they intend to dominate. But Tolentino is undaunted.
“We are fielding a fighting team,” Tolentino said.
Team Philippines will fly to Vietnam in batches with the main bulk set to leave on May 10, two days before the opening ceremony. The Games end on May 23.
