By John Legaspi
The opening ceremony of the 30th SEA Games held in the Philippine Arena was a grand celebration of Filipino culture through musical performances, dance, and design. The show entailed the local spirit of bayanihan through a visual spectacle, hence the statement “we win as one.”
Directed by Floy Quintos, the momentous ceremony was attended by officials and around 8,750 athletes from 11 different nations—the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Timor Leste, Singapore, and Vietnam—in Southeast Asia.
Singers Lani Misalucha, Robert Seña, Aicelle Santos, Christian Bautista, Elmo Magalona, Jed Madela, Iñigo Pascual, KZ Tandingan, and Apl de Ap, delightfully performed various songs from the Pinoy pop repertory. The champions of the Filipino in the sporting arena, Akiko Thomson, Efren “Bata” Reyes, Paeng Nepomuceno, Bong Coo, Lydia de Vega, Onyok Velasco, and Alvin Patrimonio carried the SEA Games Federation Flag during the ceremony.
Special guests of the night were His Majesty Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, who led the commencement of the sporting event.
Towards the end of show, all artists and performers gathered on stage to sing the official theme song of the 2019 SEA Games, “We Win As One,” composed by Maestro Ryan Cayabyab, which led to the viewing of the lighting of the SEA Games cauldron at New Clark City by People’s champ Manny Pacquiao and Nesthy Petecio.
Though the SEA Games is a sport-centric event, the opening ceremony paved way for Filipino fashion design to be showcased to its neighboring countries. From intricate ternos and used of ethnic textiles to a modern interpretation of the barong tagalong, here are some of the Filipino fashion statements on the opening ceremony of the SEA Games, proving that we champion every aspect of being Filipino.
#SeaGames2019 #WeWinAsOne #2019SeaGames #PHforONE
So HONORED to be a part of this amazing event!! ⠀ Sorry Pami I almost knocked you over 
#WeWinAsOne #SeaGames #2019SeaGames #SeaGamesOpening #Philippines #ForThePhilippines #TeamPhilippines #history #fashion #style #look #lookbook #muse #beautyqueen #history
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What an amazing experience it was to be a part of the opening number! Each of us walked with a participating country earlier and I’m so happy I got to walk with the Indonesian athletes 
Indonesia will always be a country dear to my heart because that’s where I won Miss World 🥰 took some photos backstage with Queen P @piawurtzbach who walked with the Philippine athletes during the opening number!
Photography: @philippinestar Taken earlier at the
Keifer
See more at: Manila Bulletin
