PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said a formal structure was needed to develop Philippine sports, as the first family welcomed the Filipino athletes who participated in the 2024 Paris Olympics in Malacañang on Tuesday.
“They did it on their own; of course, someone is helping them. Sometimes, the government helped. But there is no formal structure to help our athletes. And that’s what we are going to establish now,” the President said.
Led by double gold medalist gymnast Carlos Yulo and bronze medalist boxers Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio, Team Philippines arrived at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City at 7 p.m., where they received a warm welcome from their families and supporters.
At the Palace, the Olympians were greeted by the President and first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, with their sons Joseph Simon and William Vincent.
Other Olympians present during the Palace reception were pole vaulter EJ Obiena; hurdlers Lauren Hoffman and John Cabang Tolentino; boxers Carlo Paalam, Eumir Marcial and Hergie Bacyadan; weightlifters John Ceniza, Elreen Ando and Vanessa Sarno; rower Joanie Delgaco; fencer Samantha Catantan; judoka Kiyomi Watanabe; and swimmers Kayla Sanchez and Jarod Hatch.
Marcos told the athletes to tell the government what specific support they need to excel in international competitions.
“Instead of issuing cash prizes — well, if you need more cash, we’ll find some more. But I think, more importantly, I want to be part of the development of sports in the Philippines. We have been left behind,” he added.
Marcos said he intends to talk not only with the athletes but their families and coaches as well to discuss how to improve the Philippines’ performance in the international sports arena.
“That is what I want to talk about, not only the athletes but also the coaches; what else is lacking? For the parents … what were the challenges? [those] who trained Yulo — what was the most challenging part so we can help?” he said.
“You tell us and hopefully, if we really work together and start to prepare — for not only the Olympics, of course, that’s a very important one, but not only the Olympics. We start to prepare for all the international competitions that we have — that are there before us,” he added.
Marcos said that except for Yulo, all Paris Olympians would get an additional cash incentive of P2 million each from the Office of the President (OP) and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).
Yulo received cash incentives totaling P40 million — P10 million for each gold medal as mandated by law and matching incentives from the OP.
Petecio and Villegas will receive P4 million each, including the law-mandated P2 million for an Olympic bronze medal.
The President said that the OP would provide P500,000 for the coaching staff of each athlete.
“It’s good timing that the Pagcor Chairman [Alejandro Tengco] is here. He has the money. We’ll give all Olympians P1 million each,” Marcos said.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Martin Romualdez said thorough scrutiny of Philippine sports law was imperative, particularly Republic Act 10699, or The National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act.
“We will be meeting again further with our friend Dickie Bachmann (Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Richard Bachmann) from the [Philippine] Sports Commission and, of course, with Bambol (Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham Tolentino) of the Philippine Olympic Committee, and of course the other stakeholders, the National Sports Associations, on how we can improve the plight of our athletes,” he said.
During plenary session on Wednesday, the House of Representatives approved on second reading House Bill 10723, exempting incentives, rewards, bonuses and other emoluments received by national athletes and coaches from taxes.
Romualdez said he had asked his fellow lawmakers to initiate discussions on how to improve the incentives for Filipino Olympic medalists.
“One of these is a lifetime pension for all Filipino Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalists who brought honor to our country. It will start at the age of 40 of their retirement from sports,” he said in Filipino and English.
The Philippines finished 37th overall and was the best-performing Southeast Asian country in the Paris Games. The Philippines has also marked its 100th year of participation in the quadrennial Summer Games.
WITH REPORTS FROM REINA TOLENTINO
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