The leadership of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is calling on all major sports stakeholders to smoke the peace pipe as the country is determined to put up a strong challenge and finish decently in the overall standings in the 25th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Laos this December.

“From now until the end of the SEAG let us just refrain from engaging in moves that will endanger the performance of our athletes,” Angping said on Saturday. “Let us lay down our arms but if they want to go at it again, do it after the SEAG.

“In the end, it is the athletes who will suffer in the feud among (sports) officials,” said Angping, who is eyeing to gather the top athletes from billiards and cycling — two warring groups – to a dialogue soon in a bid to send an all-star team to Laos.

The Philippines is coming off a disastrous sixth-place finish in the 2007 SEAG that was held in Thailand and the PSC wants no less than a marked improvement from the forgettable performance.

Although there would only be around 150 athletes that will be sent to compete in the Dec. 9 to 18 sportsfest, Angping remains upbeat about the Filipinos chances of winning gold medals in 25 events they are taking part.

This past week, the PSC has been dangling a cash windfall for those who will be sent to the SEAG with a separate P100,000 prize for those returning home with gold medals. Under the law, a SEAG gold medal is worth P100,000 and Angping said that to enable the athletes to go the extra mile, the agency is willing to cough out additional funding for these select bets.