Photo: Philippine Olympic Committee

By Joel Reyes

The 33rd Southeast Asian Games is in full swing, with the Philippines already securing three gold medals in the prestigious biennial meet.

Justin Kobe Macario delivered the country’s first mint in men’s freestyle poomsae, followed by the swimming quartet of Kayla Sanchez, Heather White, Chloe Isleta, and Xiandi Chua ruling the women’s 4x100 freestyle relay. Filipina prizefighter Geli Bulaong added to the haul after striking gold in the mixed martial arts demo event.

In this feature, we list down the top five sports events where Filipino pride will be in full display.

1. Basketball

Filipinos will be paying close attention to the fortunes of our basketball teams in Thailand. Gilas Pilipinas will be tested with their title defense in the men’s 5-on-5 event after the host nation prevented naturalized players from suiting up in the tournament. 

Coach Norman Black has assembled a mix of pro players and collegiate standouts for the SEA Games, including Ray Parks Jr., Thirdy Ravena, Jamie Malonzo and Matthew Wright. They will face Malaysia and Vietnam in the preliminary round. 

Also in the hunt for gold medals are the country’s women’s basketball 5-on-5 team and Gilas men in the 3x3 basketball event.  

2. Volleyball

Volleyball has surged in popularity in the Philippines and Alas Pilipinas will be looking to reward their fans with podium finishes in the SEA Games. 

The country’s men’s volleyball team last won a medal in 2019 when they captured the silver in Pasig. The women’s volleyball team’s last medal finish came in 2005 when the Philippines finished third behind Thailand and Vietnam.

Alas Pilipinas Men, which came close to reaching the knockout round of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship, will be led by Bryan Bagunas, Marck Espejo, Owa Retamar and Leo Ordiales. They will face Indonesia and Myanmar in Pool B.

Alas Pilipinas Women will be led by captain Jia De Guzman and young hitters Bella Belen and Angel Canino. Also seeing action are veteran players Eya Laure, Dawn Catindig and Maddie Madayag.  

3. Tennis

All eyes will be on Alex Eala as she looks to win the country’s first gold medal in the women’s singles event since Maricis Fernandez captured the title in 1999. 

Eala also is in contention to win the gold in the women’s tennis team event after the Philippines defeated Vietnam in the quarterfinals.

4. Boxing

The Philippines will look to bag a plethora of medals in the boxing competition after taking home 4 golds, 5 silvers and one bronze at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia. Leading the country’s boxing contingent are Eumir Marcial and Nesthy Petecio, who won bronze medals in the past two Olympics.

Another boxer that fans should watch out for is Weljon Mindoro, who heads into his first SEA Games competition with an unblemished 15-0-1 with 15 knockouts professional boxing record.

5. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

For the first time in SEA Games history, MMA has been selected as one of the demonstration sports in the biennial meet. The Philippines has shown its strength in this competition, already winning a gold and three bronzes in Thailand.

Geli Bulaong made history by becoming the first Filipina athlete to win a MMA gold after defeating Indonesia's Maydelse Sitepu in the final of the Modern 60-kg female division.

—JMS, Alta Sports