House panel to approve 'Hidilyn Diaz' law on Monday —Salceda

House ways and means committee chair and Albay 2nd District Representative Joey Salceda on Saturday said his panel is targeting to pass a measure seeking to exempt from all forms of taxes the rewards and donations to be given to winners in international sports competitions.

In a statement, Salceda said the House ways and means panel will begin deliberating and possibly approve the substitute bill to House Bill No. 9891 or the “Hidilyn Diaz Act of 2021,” which seeks to amend Republic Act No. 10699 or the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act.

“We will do it on Monday. We will probably approve it, too, since no one is opposed,” he added.

He said that under the measure, rewards, bonuses, and other forms of emoluments for national athletes and coaches who compete or win international sports competitions shall be exempted from all taxes, fees, and charges.

The bill was filed in light of the historic gold medal win of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

This was the first gold medal for the Philippines in the history of the Olympics.

Ever since, the country has been assured of four medal finishes, its strongest Olympic performance ever.

“The honor that Filipino athletes have brought to the country this year is immense and historic. So unprecedented is this honor that it appears our laws were unable to anticipate the outpouring of material solidarity from different sectors of society for winning athletes and coaches,” Salceda said.

Earlier this week, during the tax panel’s regular meeting, Salceda ordered the Committee Secretariat to consolidate all pending bills on the matter.

“We are trying to rush this because time is of the essence. The blow-outs are starting to come in,” he said.

Investment in the Olympics was a game changer, according to the lawmaker.

Salceda said that investment in the Philippine Olympic Commission helped carry the country’s athletes to the podium.

“Of course, the tax law is good, but we need to invest in our athletes before they win. That’s the way to get more podium finishes. They need help during training, not after they win,” he said.

“President Duterte’s administration really upped the game on this front,” the lawmaker added.

“Under past presidents, we budgeted only around 230 to 260 million to the POC during the Olympics. Certainly, this was the case during the past two administrations.

"In fact, even PGMA [President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo] gave higher budgets to the POC than under PNOY. Under President Duterte, the budget for the POC is at P944 million for this year, almost four times the budgets under past presidents,” he noted.

The lawmaker said that it makes a difference, and” it really makes the case for strong investment in our athletes.”

“Certainly, we can do better, and we now know that investment corresponds with performance. If you want it, you have to really try and get it,” Salceda said. —LBG, GMA News