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MANILA - Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano defended the logo of the country's hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, saying what was recently presented in Jakarta, Indonesia is just a "work in progress."

"That’s the logo but of course it’s a work in progress in the same [way] na inaayos-ayos. But what I am saying is tignan mo iyon ang hood ng car pero bibili ka ba ng kotse na hood lang titignan mo?" he said in an interview.

"We wanted something that shows that para sa atin lahat to but at the same time alam mong Pilipinas. That’s why the eleven circles forming the country but you won’t see that 'yun lang nakaganoon. You will see it applied with different colors, with different backgrounds, with different merchandising items," Cayetano added.

According to Cayetano, he will listen to public opinion, but urged the public to wait for the launch of the "whole campaign" to see how "it all come[s] together."

"Kung ano ang nakita niyong circles, that’s the working logo. That’s five percent of the campaign so wait for the 95 percent of the campaign," he said.

Cayetano also said the organizers want the logo that will stand out.

"Ang sinasabi ko yung sa Jakarta hindi kumpleto yun. There are a lot of proposals to use the animals. Alam niyo kapag kinompare niyo lahat ng logos ng Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games, etc., ang tanong ko sa inyo do you want to be the same or do you wanna stand out? Do you want to be forgotten after two years kasi every 2 years ang SEA games or do you want to be remembered? Of course you don’t want to be remembered to have a bad logo but you can have a nice logo but it’s more of the same," he said.

He also assured the public that the Philippine organizers of the 2019 SEA Games are working with professionals.

"Let me assure the public that we are working with professionals. Nagkaroon ng process ito na we forth up agencies and ang nakita niyo is our presentation sa Olympic Committee of Asia about updates sa Southeast Asian Games. Hindi pa ito ang launch ng ating theme, logo, mascot and everything. So of course, we will listen to public opinion and of course we will not always agree but wait until i-launch namin ang buo kasi makikita ninyo how it all come together," Cayetano said.

“We want everyone to be happy with the logo. It might not be possible but we’ll try to get consensus on all of these. Ang sinasabi ko ang logo hood lang iyan. Hintayin niyo ang buong kotse lumabas. Baka naman dream car niyo rin naman ang lumabas." he added.

Last week, Cayetano, who also serves as chairman of the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee, presented the logo during the general assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia.

A video of his speech was posted on Cayetano's official Facebook page.

Filipino netizens, however, were divided about the logo.

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)