Tennis sensation Alex Eala and volleyball star Bryan Bagunas were selected as the flagbearers for Team Philippines in the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, which would be held this December in Thailand.
Two of the most recognizable athletes in the Philippines this 2025—tennis sensation Alex Eala and volleyball star Bryan Bagunas—were selected as flag bearers for Team Philippines in the parade of athletes of the opening ceremony of the Thailand 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok on Tuesday (December 9).
"Popularity aside, Alex and Bryan have made impacts in the global sports community and that makes them the best choice to carry the flag in the SEA Games," said Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino on Tuesday.
Eala’s rise in tennis has been close to phenomenal—she’s now the highest-ranked player Philippine tennis history in the Women’s Tennis Association at world No. 50, having been the first Filipina to get past the first round of the US Open.
Bagunas, on the other hand, was the main man of the Alas Pilipinas Men’s Team in the FIVB World Championship last September, spearheading a history victory—over many-time African champion Egypt—in an FIVB competition.
“It’s about the inspirational appeal, the motivation and hard-work that reaps accomplishment that make an athlete or athletes the best choice for the chore,” Tolentino said.
The Philippines is fielding close to 1,700 athletes in the SEA Games that programmed 574 events in 50 sports and which will now be played in two main hubs—Bangkok and Chonburi—after Songkhla was written off because of massive flooding.
The Philippines has been assigned a 300-member delegation—that could possibly be trimmed to 200 because of the year-long mourning for Queen Sirikit and the Songkhla disaster—during the march around the Rajamangala National Stadium in the opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony will be livestreamed on the One Sports YouTube page and on the Pilipinas Live app. Events will also be aired on One Sports, One Sports+, PBA Rush, RPTV, and the 24/7 pop-up channels on Cignal TV.