We’re a few weeks away from the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has been making all the necessary preparations to alleviate the imminent heavy traffic during the festivities, which will run from November 30 to December 11.

The agency previously announced that a stop-and-go traffic scheme will be implemented when the games begin to ensure that athletes and delegates reach their destinations on time. It will also deploy 2,000 personnel across Metro Manila, and patrol motorcycles, mobile-car escorts, ambulances, and tow trucks will be on standby.

The agency has also identified all potential choke-point areas during the games. If you drive around the metro often, avoid these locations at all costs, or at least plan your trips wisely.

Expected choke points during 2019 SEA Games

1. SLEX northbound
2. Mindanao Avenue–North Avenue to NLEX, Quezon City
3. Roxas Boulevard corner G. Puyat (Buendia) Avenue
4. Roxas Boulevard corner P. Ocampo Street
5. Roxas Boulevard P. Burgos Street
6. Taft Avenue corner P. Ocampo Street
7. Adriatico RMSC Area
8. Quirino Avenue corner Adriatico Street, Manila
9. Shaw Boulevard corner Pioneer Street, Pasig City
10. N. Domingo–FilOil, San Juan City
11. Lawton Avenue corner Bayani Road, Taguig City

The MMDA also expects the following venues to fill up once the games begin, so you might want to postpone your trips to or around these locations as well:

2019 SEA Games venues

1. Rizal Memorial Sports Complex
2. Cuneta Astrodome
3. SM Mall of Asia Arena
4. SM Mall of Asia Skating Rink
5. World Trade Center
6. Philippine International Convention Center Forum
7. SM Megamall
8. Filoil Flying V Centre
9. Filinvest City
10. University of the Philippines Diliman Gym
11. Marine Corps
12. Muntinlupa Sports Complex
13. Starmall EDSA
14. Makati Coliseum
15. Manila Hotel tent
16. SM Megamall Ice Rink
17. World Trade Center
18. Philsports Arena
19. Amoranto Sports Complex
20. Manila Polo Club

As for the stop-and-go traffic scheme, these are the areas that may be affected:

1. EDSA
2. Roxas Boulevard
3. Taft Avenue
4. Ayala Avenue
5. Magallanes
6. G. Puyat (Buendia) Avenue
7. Shaw Boulevard
8. Boni Serrano Avenue
9. SM Megamall
10. Santolan
11. SM North
12. Munoz
13. Balintawak

In addition, the agency also expects heavy traffic north of Metro Manila, specifically in Clark and Subic.

With the SEA Games coinciding with the start of the holiday season, motorists and commuters in the metro are in for stressful trips ahead. How will you beat the traffic come the end of November?

Reference : Top Gear Philippines

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The 30th Southeast Asian Games is upon us, as a total of 11 members of Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) countries will duke it out in the biennial regional multi-sport event.

Set to take place on November 30 to December 11 across 23 cities in the Philippines, the 2019 SEA Games is expected to host almost 10,000 of the best Asian athletes in their respective fields.

Filipinos will get a chance to watch their best homegrown athletes compete live. This will be the fourth time the country will host the esteemed event since 1981, 1991 and 2005.

Here’s how you can avail tickets and watch the game live as it happens.

Where to buy/Website

The 2019 SEA Games tickets are being distributed by the event’s official ticketing outlet, SM Tickets and have been made available to the public thru their website since October 3.

Those who prefer to get their tickets on hand can visit several SM ticket centers across the country. Sports determined to be less popular by the organizers will have a minimal fee.

You may visit the 2019 SEA Games’ official website for more information.

Venues and sports list

The 30th iteration of the biennial meet might just be one of its biggest yet, holding 530 events across 56 sports and 63 disciplines.

All events will be scattered across four designated clusters or hubs: namely Clark, Subic, Metro Manila, and “Other Areas”

The opening ceremony will be held at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, while the closing ceremony will be in New Clark City. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will be present to preside over the opening and closing ceremonies.

Reference : Fox Sports Philippines

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The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is now gearing up in connection with the 30th Southeast Asian Games to be hosted by the Philippines from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.

Chairman Danilo Lim said his agency would deploy 2,000 personnel in key areas in the metropolis to supervise and help manage the traffic flow and provide assistance during the event.

He said the MMDA shall provide personnel and equipment along designated routes for seamless movement of delegates from airport to billeting hotels, sports venues and other engagement areas at the least inconvenience to the general public.

“Aside from deployment of traffic personnel to strategic areas, we shall provide motorcycle and mobile car escorts, ambulances, tow trucks as well as monitoring of road activities during the SEA Games,” said Lim.

The 12-day event, according to Lim, is expected to gather thousands of athletes, sports officials, coaches, spectators and guests at sports and non-sports venues within Metro Manila.

Among the venues include the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, Cuneta Astrodome, SM Mall of Asia Arena, SM MOA Skating Rink, World Trade Center, Philippine International Convention Center Forum, SM Megamall, Filoil Flying V Centre, Filinvest City, University of the Philippines Diliman Gym, Marine Corps, Muntinlupa Sports Complex, Starmall EDSA, Makati Coliseum, Manila Hotel tent, SM Megamall Ice Rink, World Trade Center, Philsports Arena, Amoranto Sports Complex, and Manila Polo Club.

To give way to the convoy of vehicles going to and from the said venues, stop-and-go traffic schemes will be implemented along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and other major roads and intersections to facilitate the fast movement of the delegates.

A temporary stop of traffic will also be observed as delegates’ convoy passes through roads and intersections.

Occasional traffic disruptions also might be experienced on both directions of EDSA. On northbound, affected areas are: Roxas Blvd., Taft Avenue, Ayala, Buendia, Shaw Boulevard, Megamall, Santolan, SM North, Muñoz and Balintawak. On southbound, affected portions are Balintawak, Munoz, SM North, Cubao, Santolan, Ortigas, Shaw Boulevard, Boni Serrano, Buendia corner Macapagal, Ayala Magallanes, and Roxas Blvd.

Convoy carrying delegates will use the yellow lane, flyover and underpasses while traveling along EDSA.

The MMDA also identified chokepoint areas: These are SLEX Northbound; Mindanao Avenue- North Ave to NLEX in Quezon City; Roxas Blvd corner Buendia, Roxas Blvd corner P. Ocampo, Roxas Blvd P. Burgos, Taft Avenue corner P. Ocampo, Adriatico RMSC Area, Quirino corner Adriatico, in Manila City; Shaw Boulevard corner Pioneer in Pasig City; N. Domingo-FilOil in San Juan City; and Lawton Avenue corner Bayani Road in Taguig.

To maximize road space for all road users, Lim said traffic personnel has started conducting clearing operations of all obstructions and eyesores along the routes with the assistance of the Philippine National Police and concerned Metro local government units starting this week towards the event.

Other SEA Games Clusters where traffic congestion is expected are Clark, Subic, Southern Luzon and others. The MMDA’s preparation is in coordination with the Philippine Sea Games Organizing Committee, Philippine National Police, local government units, government agencies, and stakeholders.

Reference: Manila Standard

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Next month, the Philippines will host the actual games or sports to be played under the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games. Specifically, this regional sporting event will happen from November 30 to December 11. As far as the country is concerned, this is the fourth time that the nation is playing host to this multisport activity. This year, the competitions will happen in different main venues: Metro Manila, Clark, Subic/Olongapo and Tagaytay.

The 11 members of the Southeast Asian Games Federation are joining the 2019 SEA Games: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam. A total of 56 sports are going to be played, which makes this year’s SEA Games the biggest in terms of the number of sports included.

The country is setting aside at least P7.5 billion for this event, with P6 billion coming from the government. The rest of the money comes from sponsorship agreements facilitated by the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc). The administration even built a huge, world-class sports complex in New Clark City, which houses the state-of-the-art Aquatics Center and Athletics Stadium, plus the Athletes’ Village where the athletes and other SEA Games personalities will be billeted.

One would wonder why the country, with its seemingly endless list of problems and other priorities, would spend this amount of money to host a regional sporting event. Hosting the 30th SEA Games is a task that was previously declined by the original would-be host Brunei because of lack of funding. Well, according to Phisgoc, the country is making this investment to establish the country’s reputation as a premier sports destination.

Last October 3, the Philippines received the SEA Games Flame from 2017 host Malaysia in a handover ceremony at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. The lantern carrying the flame will be brought to the Philippines to kickoff various torch run activities in Davao, Cebu and Clark.

The official torch for this year’s SEA Games symbolizes unity, sportsmanship, athletic superiority and artistic achievements. One of the Philippines’s esteemed sculptors, Daniel de la Cruz, designed the torch and the medals for the SEA Games. His torch design shows the national symbols, including the sampaguita, our national flower. It stands for purity, simplicity, humility and strength.

I am sure there are many Filipinos who are excited to watch some of the events and offer support to our very own athletes. Tickets for the different events are going to be available for sports fans across Southeast Asia. SM Tickets is the official ticketing outlet, which means that you can buy from their web site and from any of their actual ticket centers nationwide starting October 15. The opening ceremony, to be held at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, happens on November 30. Tickets to this event starts at P1,000.

As the main hub of the 2019 SEA Games, Clark is the venue for several sporting events. New Clark City in Clark, Pampanga, offers the newly built Athletics Stadium and Aquatics Center as the venue for the centerpiece sports athletics and swimming. However, Metro Manila will still be hosting most of the sporting events, including basketball, volleyball and weightlifting.

Reference: Business Mirror

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MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will host the biggest Southeast Asian Games yet as it features 56 sports and 530 events in 44 venues across the country from November 30 to December 11, 2019.

Planning to catch the games live? Check out our guide to the venues and schedule of events here:

Clark is considered the main hub of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games with the construction of New Clark City, which will host the centerpiece sports – athletics and swimming. The International Broadcast Center (IBC) is also located in Clark, Pampanga.

However, most of the sporting events – including major sports like basketball, volleyball and weightlifting – will still be held in Metro Manila.

Source : Rappler

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