Senate OKs incentives bill

Philippine Sports Commission chair Richie Garcia hailed Tuesday the approval of a Senate bill more than doubling the cash incentives of medal-winning Filipino athletes in international competitions.

Senate Bill No. 2898, which replaced Republic Act 9064 or the Sports Incentives Act of 2001, was passed on the third and final reading Monday by 14 senators led by Sen. Sonny Angara, who sponsored the bill as chair of the Senate committee on games, amusement and sports.

The new measure has a counterpart in the House of Representatives authored by Davao del Norte Rep. Anthony Del Rosario.

Garcia said the bicameral body would now move to ratify the measure and forward it to the office of President Aquino for approval.

Based on the new bill, an Olympic gold medal for the Summer and Winter Games will now be doubled to P10 million from P5 million while individual gold medalists in the Youth Olympic Games and Paralympics stand to receive P5 million.

Asian Games and Asian Winter Games champions will now earn P2 million.