SEAG champs to get more cash from PSC

GOLD medalists in the just-concluded Burma (Myanmar) Southeast Asian Games will be promoted to the elite roster of athletes who will receive a P40,000 monthly cash allowance each plus another P40,000 a month in expenses when campaigning overseas.

Philippine Sports Commission chair Richie Garcia said the adjustments will be made at the soonest possible time to better prepare the new SEA Games champions for the coming 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

He added that the athletes in the elite roster who failed to win a gold in the SEA Games will be relegated to the regular roster and will receive P15,000 a month.

“From what we saw in the SEA Games, our program of giving priority to the elite athletes and of focusing on their training worked very well,” said Garcia. “The athletes delivered.”

Compared to the more than 500 athletes sent to the 2011 SEA Games, he said the country fared better in Burma because only 210 athletes were fielded.

The Philippines fell to an all-time low of seventh place in the SEA Games, four editions after capturing the overall title here in Manila.

Garcia also said the PSC’s decision to be strict with the selection of athletes saved the agency P40 million.

“We usually spend close to P80 million during SEA Games,” he said. “But now we only spent about P40 million.”