SEAG medalists to get cash incentives Wednesday

MANILA, Philippines—The Filipino medalists in the recent Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia will receive their cash incentives Wednesday in a simple ceremony at the badminton hall of the Rizal Memorial Sports Center.

The Philippine Sports Commission will hand out the P8-million cash incentives to the athletes and P4.1 million to the coaches from funds released by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Tenpin bowler Frederick Ong earned a windfall as the most successful Filipino athlete in the biennial games with five medals—a gold in men’s singles, three silvers in the men’s team, doubles and masters and a bronze in the men’s trios.

Ong could even surpass the earnings of lady cue artist Iris Ranola, the only Filipino double gold medalist, who ruled the 8-ball and 9-ball singles in billiards.

Under Republic Act 9064, also known as the Incentives Act, a gold in the SEA Games is worth P100,000, a silver P50,000 and a bronze P10,000. Coaches are entitled to an amount equivalent to 50 percent of their athletes’ bonuses.

The Philippines finished sixth overall among 11 countries with 36 gold, 56 silver and 77 bronze medals.

The PSC has a standing policy that athletes should declare the name of their coach prior to any competition. PSC chair Richie Garcia said some of the athletes failed to follow the procedure.

“We have a gold medalist and yet there are two or three who are claiming to be his coach,” said Garcia. “This delayed the release of the incentives.”