MANILA -- The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has included EJ Obiena on the list of athletes who will be fielded to the 31st Southeast Asian Games. in Vietnam.

Obiena, who is embroiled in a funding issue with his mother association Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA), is among the 654 athletes who will defend the country's overall championship in the SEA Games.

“EJ’s name must be there,” POC president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said in a statement on Friday, adding that efforts are being undertaken by the POC to have Obiena compete in the SEA Games, which will be hosted by Vietnam from May 12 to 23.

• Obiena excluded by PATAFA from SEA Games roster

Obiena is Asia’s No. 1 men’s pole vaulter and is a sure bet for a gold medal.

His Asian record of 5.93 meters is way above the SEA Games standard of 5.45 meters he himself set during the 2019 edition that the Philippines hosted.

But Obiena’s rift with the PATAFA has dragged on for more than two months now with the federation denying his request for endorsement to the World Indoors in Belgrade as well as the Vietnam SEA Games, World Championships in Oregon in July and the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September.

“It’s both frustrating and disappointing if we don’t see EJ setting a new SEA Games record in Hanoi,” Tolentino said. “Logic plays a major role here for the need to include him in the SEA Games list. This is sports and he’s a national sports pride.”

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The POC, Tolentino said, has written the World Athletics, the sport’s world governing body headed by running legend Sebastian Coe, on Obiena’s predicament.

A similar case happened in 1985 when the POC had to intervene on former track queen Lydia de Vega’s inclusion on the national team for the Asean Cup at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The late Governor Jose Sering was then the acting PATAFA president in lieu of the suspended Michael Keon. De Vega refused to join the national team training at Teachers Camp in Baguio City and was chastised by her national sports association.