The two athletes, coming from the list of candidates eyeing slots in the Doha Games on December 1-15, are gold medal potentials as deemed by the POC and are expected to undergo six months of training either in California or Sydney.

POC President Jose "Peping" Cojuangco Jr., however, refused to divulge the identity of the two athletes.

"It is actually a project of the POC. Kung mag-materialize ito, malaki ang chance natin na ma-train ‘yung mga gold medal potentials natin at makakuha ulit ng gold sa Asian Games," Cojuangco said in a radio interview.

The POC said it will shoulder only the daily allowances of the athletes as several Filipino communities abroad expressed their interest in supporting the national athletes after the Filipinos’ impressive performance in the Southeast Asian Games last year.

Cojuangco, however, seemed to be troubled by the fact that the country has yet to start its preparation for the Asiad while other rival countries, such as Vietnam, have already embarked on a massive training of their athletes. Vietnam has allocated a ,000 budget per athlete while the country has yet to prepare its budget proposals for the coming meet.

Cojuangco believes that the Filipinos who will see action in the Asian Games will be lean but competitive based on the programs that they have prepared, including the tough guidelines set by the Asian Games Task Force in selecting athletes for the competition.

"Talent at tapang lang ang panlaban natin. Sila, pondo. Kung maaari nating maipagsama iyong dalawang iyon, malamang mataas talaga ang quality natin sa sports," Cojuangco said.