ALTHOUGH President Duterte did not mention sports in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) last Monday, what he would have said was most likely what he already announced when the Rio de Janeiro Olympians paid him a courtesy call in Malacañang recently.
To start with, Mr. Duterte increased the athletes’ allowance from $1,000 each to $3,000 and the delegation officials from $3,000 to $5,000.
Mr. Duterte also made a firm commitment to support Philippine sports, vowing that he would find a way to improve its dire condition.
“I will find a way to raise money for sports. I will get it from tax evaders,” the President said.
The first big sports project under the new administration is the country’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
Mr. Duterte has instructed Philippine Sports Commission Chair Butch Ramirez to start working on the hosting. Ramirez is with the delegation that left for the Olympics over the weekend. He was by joined sports consultant Dennis Uy, owner of PBA team Phoenix Fuel.
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Michael Aldeguer, president of ALA Promotions, has rescheduled the much-awaited showdown between Donnie Nietes, the country’s longest reigning world champion, and unified WBO/WBA flyweight champion Juan Francisco “El Gallo” Estrada.
The fight was originally set September this year but has been moved to next year.
According to Aldeguer, Zanfer (Estrada’s promoter) has informed them that they received a mandatory letter from the World Boxing Association for Estrada to fight current WBA world flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka, thus forcing them to push back the Nietes-Estrada bout.
Aldeguer added that the negotiations for the fight would definitely be carried on the next months towards its realization.