IT IS THE dream of every athlete to represent their country in international sporting competitions. The experience of proudly displaying your country’s colors on your chest, with the world as witness as you parade on opening night and then competing is, for me, surreal. Nothing compares to the pride and honor of playing for flag and country.
There is the desire to win, to excel, but notwithstanding all the hard work and sacrifices, not everybody is destined to prevail. In every tournament, there will always be winners and losers. The victors savor the sweet taste of triumph; the vanquished swallows the bitter pill of defeat and gets back to the drawing board to revise battle plans.
I suppose every nation give incentives to their top-performing athletes, and the Philippines is no exception. Enacted by Congress, Republic Act 10699 – the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act – was born.
The law mainly provides benefits, incentives and privileges to top-performing athletes who made good in international competitions. It also looks after the welfare of these athletes by offering scholarships, health and medical insurance, retirement and death benefits, and housing and livelihood programs initiated by different government agencies.
Monetary considerations are given and rates differ for the Olympics, Paralympics, the Southeast Asian Games, and world-level competitions held every two years. The funds come mainly from the net income of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., directly remitted to the National Sports Development Fund of the Philippine Sports Commission under an account specifically created for this purpose.
The following amounts are mandated by law to be given to Asian Games medal winners: P2 million for a gold medal, P1 million for silver, P400,000 for bronze.
For team events of less than five players, the amount will be divided equally among members who are actually present in the competition. If the team has more than five members, each will receive 25 percent of the cash incentive. Coaches also get their share of the booty – 50 percent of the incentive goes to them and, in cases of multiple coaches, the 50 percent will be divided equally among them.
If by some circumstance of biblical proportions the Elastogilas bags the basketball gold, each member of the team will get P500,000. The “token team” is doing well and has a modest mission of finishing above seventh place. A bronze medal is a big possibility and their no-nonsense losing stand against a gigantic Chinese team was a valiant effort. If only our leaders could show the same aggression toward China in that West Philippine Sea reclamation.
(Editor’s note: This piece was written before the Philippines lost to South Korea in the 18th Asian Games.)
Aside from RA 10699, the Philippine Olympic Committee also dangled a P2-million incentive to gold medal winners, P500,000 for silver and P300,000 for bronze.
An additional P1 million will also be given by Siklab Atleta Pilipinas Sports Foundation for gold, P500,000 for silver and P250,000 for bronze. The foundation is supported by SM, SMC, Tanduay, Alaska, the Robinsons group of companies, PLDT, United Laboratories, 2Go, Phoenix Petroleum, ICTSI, and Megaworld, among others.
The Philippine ambassador to Indonesia also joined in the cash bonanza by pledging P1 million to the gold medal winner. Pocket dynamite Hidilyn Diaz is at least P6 million pesos richer after bagging the country’s first gold medal in weightlifting. As of this writing, aside from Hidilyn’s gold, the Philippines has five bronzes – three from taekwondo, two from wushu.
There’s too much support for basketball even if it’s clearer than high noon that we cannot match mano-a-mano with the powerhouses of the Asia-Pacific region. Yes, we had a big improvement, but there must also be equal support toward individual sports where we have better than good chances of podium finishes.
We always hear from our sports officials about improvements and development, the procurement of equipment and establishment of modern training facilities, but infighting, politics and misappropriation of funds always get in the way. Unless we solve these issues, we continue to waste our talents and be doormats in international sports meets.
Meanwhile let’s enjoy watching China bully us and other nations in this Asian Games, just like their intimidation and intrusion in our territories and, for the nth time, hear all those rhetorical bull crap from our Foreign Affairs officials./PN
