New PH sports heroine to get P5-M incentive

FOR BAGGING a silver medal in the 31st Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Hidilyn Diaz will receive a P5-million incentive under the National Athletes, Coaches and Trainers Benefits and Incentives Act.

Diaz will also get a new house and lot as pledged by a realtor and developer, according to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Malacañang joined the nation in hailing the country’s newest sport darling and the end of a 20-year Olympic medal drought, saying the victory represented the Filipinos’ own journey.

“The inspiring story of Diaz is the story of Filipinos,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement. “Hers is about overcoming shyness but for an inspired nation, her road to Rio is a journey of grit, patience and determination.”

President Duterte’s spokesperson, Ernesto Abella, said Diaz’s feat also represented change in the country. “Truly, change has come,” Abella said.

Symbol of Filipino strength

Senators also heaped praises on Diaz as a symbol of the Filipino’s strength.

Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, vice chair of the Senate committee on sports, said Diaz would be the first Olympic medalist to receive the hiked cash incentive for athletes approved through Republic Act No. 10699, the National Athletes, Coaches and Trainers Benefits and Incentives Act, which he authored.

“Under the new law, she will be receiving P5 million in cash incentive tax-free. Had she won in 2012, she would only receive P2.5 million,” Angara said in a statement.

Coaches who personally trained Filipino athletes at least six months before the Games also get a bonus, equivalent to 50 percent of the cash incentives for gold, silver and bronze medalists. If there is more than one coach, the cash incentives shall be divided among themselves.

House and lot

PSC Chair Butch Ramirez said the house-and-lot pledge to all Filipino medalists in the Rio Games was made by realtor and developer Deca Homes. He did not say where the property would be and how much it was worth.

Hidilyn Diaz, of the Philipines, competes in the women’s 53kg weightlifting competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016. Diaz won the silver medal. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

“It’s a fulfillment of her dreams because I heard she wanted to build her home with the money she will receive,” Ramirez said.

A hero’s welcome for Diaz had been planned on Thursday but it would not push through as she was slated to come with the rest of the Philippine delegation on a later date.

Ramirez said Diaz’s triumph bolstered the PSC plan to stage regional centers for the Philippine institute. The weightlifting course will be taught at a center in Zamboanga City, he said. With a report from Tarra Quismundo