2005 SEA Games

The 2005 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines.
This was the third time the Philippines hosted the games and its first time since 1991. Previously, Philippines also staged the games for the first time in 1981. Around 5336 athletes from 11 participating nations participated at the games which featured 443 events in 40 sports. The games was held from 27 November to 5 December 2005, although several events had commenced from 20 November 2005. The games was opened and closed by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the President of the Philippines at the Quirino Grandstand, Rizal Park.
The final medal tally was led by host Philippines, followed by Thailand and Vietnam. Several Games and national records were broken during the games. Though there were several controversies, the games were deemed generally successful with the rising standard of competition amongst the Southeast Asian Nations.
14 years after the 2005 SEA Games, the Philippines hosted the 2019 edition of the Southeast Asian Games, which was decentralized with no designated host city. Although this edition was also held in different venues in the Philippines, Manila is officially designated as the host city.
The Philippine SEA Games Organising Committee (PhilSOC) was formed to oversee the staging of the games.
The 23rd Southeast Asian Games had 38 venues for the games, 19 in Manila, 5 each in Cebu and Negros Occidental respectively, 4 in Zambales, 2 each in Cavite and Laguna respectively and 1 in Pampanga
A ceremony was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, the host of the 2003 Southeast Asian Games to pass the flame to 2005 edition's host, the Philippines. After the flame arrived in Cebu, it passed through several cities in the Philippines before it ended in Manila on 27 November 2005.
The logo of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games dubbed as the "Ethnic-Masked Athlete" which features an athlete wearing a gold festival mask, similar to those found in most Southeast Asian countries, and a headgear. The mask is meant to signify the different countries that gather together for the games as well as the exuberant spirit and hospitality of the Filipinos. The logo also was made to represent the athlete's mixed emotions in participating in the sporting event; pain, suffering, and anxiety which are downplayed by friendship and sportsmanship. The logo was inspired by the MassKara Festival held annually in Bacolod, one of the satellite venues of the event. The logo was designed by Filipino freelance graphic designer Joel Manalastas.
The mascot of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games is a Philippine eagle named Gilas. The Philippine eagle is one of the world's largest eagles, distinct for its majestic plumage on its head. The eagle is a symbol of elegance, strength and pride and winning spirit of the athletes. Gilas was inspired by the Filipino words Maliksi (agile), Malakas (strong), Matalino (smart), Mataas (high), and Matalas (sharp). The SEA Games mascot was originally a Philippine tarsier until the Philippine SEA Games Organising Committee (PhilSOC) changed it to the Philippine eagle. The SEA Games mascot Gilas was designed by Filipino sportswriter/columnist Danny Simon.
The theme of the games was "One Heritage, One Southeast Asia". Highlighted during the games' opening ceremony, the theme emphasises unity and co-operation among the 11 member nations of the SEA Games Federation.
The official hymn was "We're All Just One." The hymn was composed by singer-composer Jose Mari Chan and lyricist Rene Nieva. It was sung by Julia Abueva, granddaughter of Philippine national artist Napoleon Abueva, and University of the Philippines President Dr. Emerlinda R. Roman. She was accompanied by the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Ryan Cayabyab.
A total of 27 sponsors sponsored the games.
The opening ceremonies of the games were held at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila; the first time a park was utilised instead of a stadium which set a record for the world's largest live audience in an opening ceremony with 200,000 people. By doing so, it brought down costs, alleviating the need to spend millions of pesos just to upgrade existing facilities. It also accommodated audiences and is considered large in an opening ceremony, bigger than the openers of the Olympic Games. Among the audiences were the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Philippines' largest Islamic separatist group which sent representatives to attend the opening ceremonies as spectators. Renowned director Maria Montelibano was in charge of the overall program direction, while Ryan Cayabyab and Robert Tongco were in charge of musical and dance direction, respectively. Creative director Pogs Mendoza and assistant director Bebot Pondevida designed the stage. For the first time in the history of the Southeast Asian Games, the opening ceremony was held in an open-air location.
The Games opening started with the parade and entrance of the Philippine flag, carried by members of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. Following the flag were Boy Scouts of the Philippines and Girl Scouts of the Philippines from Sienna College and some of the host country's best athletes and SEA Games alumni, basketball star Allan Caidic, sprinter Lydia de Vega-Mercado, boxer Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco, swimmer Akiko Thomson, sharpshooter Nathaniel "Tac" Padilla, taekwondo star Monsour del Rosario, equestrian champion Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, bowler Paeng Nepomuceno and world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao. The now defunct San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Miguel Master Chorale, under the baton of Maestro Ryan Cayabyab, rendered "Sabihin Mo Ikaw Ay Pilipino" during the parade and entrance of the Philippine flag, and then the Philippine National Anthem during the flag raising ceremony. After the national anthem, a colourful cultural dance was presented by the world-renowned Bayanihan Dance Troupe and Jocson Tribe groups.
Leading the athletes was the SEA Games Federation Flag, carried by champion swimmer Eric Buhain, sprint queen Elma Muros-Posadas, badminton player Weena Lim, Mansueto Velasco, Monsour del Rosario and Paeng Nepomuceno. Brunei Darussalam led the Parade of Nations. After the entry of the delegation of Vietnam, Ati-Atihan dancers performed on stage and a large Philippine flag was unfurled by the volunteers from Gawad Kalinga to welcome Team Philippines, who wore stylized red and blue royal blue ramie linen barongs and salakot (A traditional wide-brimmed hat made of indigenous fibers, which is common in the region.) designed by international designer, Eric Pineda. Team Philippines was accompanied by then-Miss International 2005, Precious Lara Quigaman, then-WBC Lightweight Champion, Manny Pacquiao and local celebrity, Angel Locsin. Throughout the parade, the Orchestra and the Chorale provided the score. Each of the participating countries were honored when each of the flag bearers waived their colours in front of the stage one by one, a first in the opening ceremonies of the games. After the parade of nations, the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Miguel Master Chorale performed the SEA Games Overture to welcome the athletes. Bayang Barrios led the colorful song and dance number, "Ang Alamat ng Timog Silangan" ("The Legend of the Southeast"), signifying the theme for the games, "One Heritage, One Southeast Asia." The ten-minute number featured the talents of the Bayanihan Dance Troupe, Hot Legs and various volunteer dancers from different schools around the country. The number ended with a presentation of dances from different Southeast Asian countries and the entrance of the flags of the participating nations, to the delight of the crowd and the athletes.
Southeast Asian Games Federation Chairman and Philippine Olympic Committee President Jose Cojuangco then gave a keynote speech aimed to inspiring athletes to perform their best in their events states that the host country is not just aspiring to win as many medals as it could but to show its good hospitality among its guests. Despite his removal as chairman of the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee three months ago, Roberto Pagdanganan was given the task of introducing the guest of honour, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who entered the stage and formally declared the games open. To signify the opening of the games, fireworks lit the sky, and the SEA Games Flag was raised. Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski led the oath of sportsmanship and Cesar Mateo, the pledge for officiating judges. Singapore-based Filipino singer, Julia Abueva sang the theme, "We're All Just One," composed by Jose Mari Chan and written by Rene Nieva. Equestrienne Toni Leviste, riding a horse, carried the torch in front of the Rizal Monument before passing it to Olympian Maria Antoinette Rivero. The flame came all the way from Vietnam, host of the previous games, while the torch came from the last Asian Games in Busan. Rivero then crossed the Roxas Boulevard by parting the crowd all the way to the Grandstand stage. She lit a small cauldron, extinguishing the torch. Then, the flame made its way to the large cauldron, signaling the start of the games. The opening ceremony ended with a 45-minute concert. Local band Rivermaya, together with the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra, played the SEA Games song, "Posible," which inspired athletes that a medal win is possible. A fireworks display was on show during the performance.
The closing ceremony of the Games was held at the Quirino Grandstand on 5 December at 20:00 PST.
The ceremony began with songs and dance performances by local artists and performers, followed by the parade of athletes by order of sports competed at the games. After President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gave her speech, she declared the 23rd Southeast Asian games closed. The flame of the games' cauldron was extinguished and the Federation flag was lowered. Mike Arroyo, the Head of Mission of Team Philippines was accompanied by Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose 'Peping' Cojuangco Jr. to handed over the SEA Games Federation flag to Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister, Suwat Liptapanlop, a symbol of the SEA Games responsibilities being handed over to Thailand, host of the 2007 Southeast Asian Games. The Thai National Anthem was played as the National flag of Thailand was raised. A Thailand segment performance was performed by Thai dancers, who graced the stage to provide spectators with a glimpse of what the athletes would expect in Nakhon Ratchasima.
The ceremony concluded with a Filipino farewell segment performance, showing the culture of the Philippines.
All eleven nations in Southeast Asia participated with the Philippines having the largest delegation with 892 athletes as host country.
The 2005 SEA Games featured 40 sports. The 23rd edition of the games had the highest number of sporting events in the entire history of the SEAG at that time; more events than the Asian Games and the Olympic Games. The Southeast Asian Games Federation, through the recommendation of the Philippine SEA Games Organising Committee (PhilSOC), decided to exclude basketball, a popular sport in the Philippines, from the competitions due to the decision of FIBA to ban the host country to participate in any international competitions of the sport.
¹ - not an official Olympic Sport ² - sport played only in the SEA Games ³ - not a traditional Olympic nor SEA Games Sport and introduced only by the host country. ° - a former official Olympic Sport, not applied in previous host countries and was introduced only by the host country.
A total of 1462 medals, comprising 444 gold medals, 434 silver medals, and 584 bronze medals were awarded to athletes. The Host Philippines performance was its best ever yet in Southeast Asian Games history, emerged as overall champion of the games.
* Host nation (Philippines)