SEA Games medalists get additional bonuses from government

 

Filipino athletes who brought home a medal from the 2015 Southeast Asian Games received additional cash bonuses from the Philippine Sports Commission on Saturday.

 

During the celebration of Olympic Day in the PhilSports Arena, chairman Richie Garcia announced that the PSC decided to increase the monetary bonus doled out to the medalists as mandated by law.

 

Under the Sports Benefits and Incentives Act of 2001, SEAG medalists are entitled to P100,000 for gold, P50,000 for silver, and P10,000 for bronze. The amount is doubled for teams with more than five members to be shared equally among them.

 

"We've been studying it, hindi equitable eh," Garcia told GMA News Online in an interview. "It is not viable anymore. We have to be more proactive. Bigyan naman natin ng dagdag."

 

With a provision in law giving PSC the power to give higher incentives, the commission made an adjustment in the computation of per athlete bonuses in team sports. Instead of dividing the money per person, a flat rate of 50 percent of the prescribed amount was received by the medalists.

 

Hence, all members of teams which won a gold medal were given P50,000 checks, while all members of teams which won a silver medal had P25,000.

 

For bronze medalists, meanwhile, the PSC deemed to increase the prescribed amount P10,000 to P25,000. All members of teams which won bronze thus received P12,500.

 

The PSC forwarded a request to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, the agency tasked by law to finance the benefits of medalists, to adopt their formula in calculating the amount they would release for athlete incentives.

 

Garcia said, however, that proposal has yet to be discussed in a PAGCOR board meeting so the Commission decided to shoulder the funds from its own budget and just applied for reimbursement.

 

"Kasi kung hindi, kawawa naman ang mga atleta," he said. "Kung hintayin natin 'yung PAGCOR, it might take a little while pa."

 

29-gold haul

 

Around P14 million in total was released by the PSC for the medalists who won the 29 gold, 36 silver, and 66 bronze in the Singapore Games, an amount which, for Garcia, is small enough to be covered by the Commission every two years.

 

But he said they are still seeking an amendment to the law to formalize an even higher increase for the SEA Games rate, as the PSC is not exactly mandated to fund bonuses for athletes.

 

"Sa Asian Games naman the incentive is quite big e. We're talking about million pesos. It's only the Southeast Asian Games na masyadong mababa," he said, adding that incentives to Filipino athletes are just a tenth of the amount received by some of their Southeast counterparts.

 

Several bills increasing the incentives and expanding their coverage are currently pending in Congress, but the version filed by Pasay City representative Emi Rubiano reflects the adjustments made by the PSC.

 

House Bill 2907 also includes a provision for athletes with disabilities, which is also part of PSC's campaigns.

 

"Right now, wala silang amount na ganito because there is no provision in law. Kawawa naman. That's why we've been fighting for that," Garcia said. "They give the same effort if not even higher sa mga normal na mga atleta."

 

Garcia lamented that no amendment has yet to be approved since he came to office in 2010, but he hopes that the lawmakers will act now for the sake of the athletes.

 

"I'm not saying i-railroad nila, but I think they should really find a way to approve that incentive act," he said. —JST, GMA News