MANILA, Philippines – Tycoon and sports patron Manny V. Pangilinan has come to the rescue of the beleaguered Philippine Sports Commission by offering to shoulder the expenses of athletes from seven sports to the 26th Southeast Asian Games.
The total amount pledged by the telecommunications and utilities magnate comes up to about P10 million, which is just P5 million short of the P15 million the PSC had hoped to raise to augment the original budget of P30 million for the November 11 to 20 biennial Games in Indonesia.
The Philippine Olympic Committee is expected to finalize today the composition of the national delegation. The POC initially submitted a list of 424 athletes and 140 officials to be funded by the PSC.
Aside from that list, the POC has also included 110 private-funded athletes along with 21 officials, expanding the size of the contingent to almost 700.
The athletes who will enjoy MVP’s patronage come from basketball, boxing, football, badminton, taekwondo, tennis and cycling.
PSC chair Richie Garcia said he would seek Malacañang’s help in bridging the funding gap for the PH delegation.
Based on its estimates, the PSC will spend P80,000 for the airfare, board and lodging, uniforms and allowances of each member of the delegation for the games that will be held in the cities of Jakarta and Palembang in Sumatra and Central Java.
“We’re trying to complete the lineup by Friday, and with that we will be able to know the final amount that we will be asking Malacañang,” said Garcia.
POC spokesperson Joey Romasanta said Pangilinan’s donation would go straight to the PSC, which will disburse it to the Olympic body for distribution to the national sports associations chosen by the businessman.
Romasanta said the NSAs of the 110 more POC-sponsored athletes should produce their private sponsors to determine the final count of the delegation.