SEA Games officially opens with grand display of PHL culture, arts

The 30th Southeast Asian Games officially opened on Saturday night during a ceremony at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan that featured a grand display of Filipino culture, music, and dance.

Native dances, from the northern Luzon's La Jota Moncadeña and Mindanao's Singkil, and a demonstration of Filipino martial arts such as escrima, kali, and arnis were featured in the opening, which is expected to attract around 20,000 attendees.

Things kicked off with singer Lani Misaluchia performing the national anthem "Lupang Hinirang" in the required brisk, marching pace.

30th Southeast Asian Games in Manila is on! #SEAGames2019 #WeWinAsOne pic.twitter.com/vTnFvVA8bS

— Llanesca T. Panti (@llanescajourno) November 30, 2019

The cultural performance quickly gave way to the march of athletes from the different participating nations.

FULL COVERAGE: 30th Southeast Asian Games on GMA News Online

Musical artists Christian Bautista, Aicelle Santos, Jed Madela, Elmo Magalona, KZ Tandingan, Iñigo Pascual, The TNT Boys, Ana Fegi, Robert Seña, and Apl.de.ap. performed a medley of songs, including the 2019 SEA Games theme song, “We Win as One.”

President Rodrigo Duterte, who was seen seated beside Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, formally opened the biennial games.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the organizing committee of the 30th SEA Games, also delivered a speech.

Despite officially being opened only on Saturday night, preliminary games have already been held in the past week across several venues in the country. 

Typhoon, complaints

The organization of the 30th edition of the SEA Games has been mocked and marred by complaints about transport, accommodation and food as thousands of athletes have flooded into the Philippines for the biggest-ever edition of the multi-sport event.

And the threat of an approaching typhoon -- forecast to hit the north of the country early next week -- looms large.

Duterte had pledged a probe into the troubled run-up to the Games' opening ceremony at the Philippine Arena, around 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the capital Manila, after a rush of logistical problems and last-minute construction.

LOOK: Mga atletang Pinoy, nagmamartsa na papasok sa Philippine Arena para sa opening ceremony ng #SEAGames2019. | via @ralphobina pic.twitter.com/1LcFIp9Xa4

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) November 30, 2019

He also instructed organizers to release complimentary tickets to many of the 56 sports at the SEA Games to locals.

The Philippines was bracing for a typhoon which national forecasters warned was maintaining its strength.

PAGASA said Typhoon Tisoy entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility Saturday afternoon and is forecast to head right for Games venues in the north of the country and is expected to make landfall on Tuesday.

The show's director, Filipino writer Floy Quintos, earlier shared a photo on Facebook of hundreds of performers in colorful costumes on stage.

"Yes, the show is a spectacle," wrote the award-winning playwright, adding the image showed a people "united."

Filipino! Filipino! Filipino! Filipino! #SEAGames2019 pic.twitter.com/rQOw7sOQsM

— Mark Makalalad (@MMakalalad) November 30, 2019

"And the power of spectacle is one that has been used, worldwide by the powerful to further agendas. But it is in the hands of the spectacle's creators to patch together some meaning, some cohesion, some message that goes beyond the political."

This year's Games in Clark, Manila and Subic, which run through to December 11, are particularly complex with a record 56 sports across dozens of venues that are in some cases are hours apart apart by car, even before Manila's notorious gridlock traffic is factored in. — DVM/MDM, GMA News with Agence France-Presse