Prove worth in PH National Games, top athletes told

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Games (PNG) will decide the status of athletes in the priority list.

“The performance of elite athletes here will be monitored. They should show they’re the best to avoid being removed from the priority list,” said Philippine Sports Commission chair Richie Garcia Monday as he stressed the importance of the PNG set May 16 to 25.

The 160 priority athletes receive from the PSC a monthly allowance of P30,000 to P40,000 plus foreign training and exposure for international competitions like the coming Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

“They must prove that they deserve the P40,000 monthly allowance as elite athletes,” said Garcia.

Aside from the 44 regular sports in the PNG which will be held in different venues in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, 10 other events are in the calendar, most of them disciplines for differently abled athletes under the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled (Philspada).

“This is an opportunity for other athletes to prove that they deserve to be in the national team and a chance for aspiring athletes to show that they can compete with the best,” said Philippine Olympic Committee secretary general Steve Hontiveros.

Garcia said priority athletes who will perform badly will be downgraded from the elite level to the status of regular athletes.

PSC commissioner Jolly Gomez said they’re expecting a huge turnout of at least 7,000 athletes representing most of the local government units in the country. He added the agency would spend around P20 million for the Games.

“The objective of the PNG is greater participation from the different LGUs.

This is an opportunity for the LGU’s to increase their knowledge in sports,” said Gomez.

Garcia said it might be too late for the top PNG performers to be included in the 2014 Asian Games lineup but stressed that they can be accommodated in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games.