By CARRIE T. ASPA |

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT (Dec. 2) — Since the Sunday medals harvest when Filipino athletes kick-started the Philippine surge with five golds and two silvers here, Subic spectators cheer on local athletes to hoarseness.

“Go Philippines!” and “We win as one!” resound today, the second day of the 30th Southeast Asian Games in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, as Philippine athletes bagged three more golds: one each in men’s duathlon, pencak silat, and triathlon relay.

Freeport workers, residents of neighboring Olongapo City, Zambales and Bataan fill up the bleachers and line up along the guard rails that separate the field of play from the audience, urging local bets to make a score or race to the finish.

But athletes from other countries also receive their share of cheers. Even from Filipinos.

“Go Singapore!” “Go Vietnam!” shout employees of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), as they urge triathlon relay racers along the Waterfront Road where the competitors finish the contest.

I ask why, and they reply: “We already have a lot of wins. Our racers are way ahead. Let us share the good feeling. No one in the audience is cheering for them.”

Even SBMA Chairman and Administrator Amy T. Eisma joins the cheering chorus at the finish line.

“We are here, as host, to all the athletes. After all, we win as one,” Eisma quips.

This display of Filipino kindness generates astonishing effects.

At the sepak takraw men’s competition, the Cambodian team is in the court trying to make baskets to beat Laos’s score of 430 and make second place. The crowd roars and eggs them on every time a hoop is scored.

With less than three minutes to go, Cambodia evens up the score and the crowd goes wild.

The cheering apparently inspires the players to do better. With a final score of 450, Cambodia gets the silver. Around 90 percent of the cheering crowd are Filipinos.

At the beach volleyball court, it is the same — Filipinos rooting for their Asian sister and brother athletes.

It does not matter that they will compete against the Philippine team in another game. In that moment, they need to be cheered on. They need to feel support. And so, without their kababayans here to watch and root for them, our kababayans give them what they lack.

The friendship and affection is contaminating. And this writer starts cheering for them, too. ▼

TOP PHOTO: Athletes from Singapore lead the pack during the duathlon race on Monday, Dec. 2 (Photo by Jun Dumaguing)