Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
With eyes geared towards helping Philippine sports as a whole, the PBA has extended a helping hand to the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).
Led by PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, the Board of Governors donated a sum of P46 million on Sunday which was received by POC president Ricky Vargas.
The San Miguel Corporation and the MVP Sports Foundation each gave P20 million in checks to the POC, while all 12 PBA teams chipped in P500,000 to amount to the league’s P6 million contribution.
“I would like to thank with gratitude the PBA for their contribution and San Miguel Corporation and the MVPSF. These are all directed contribution towards athletes, towards NSAs for the program for Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games,” said Vargas. “We are very thankful for all of these contributions for the athletes, for the program, and for the country.”
Marcial said that the act of goodwill was an initiative of the Board of Governors back in their planning session in Hong Kong.
“The Governors said that they wanted to help and support the POC since the president is also our chairman,” he said.
San Miguel Corporation (SMC) sports director Alfrancis Chua also expressed his company’s desire to help Vargas in his tenure in the POC, saying that all of these is for the betterment of Philippine sports as a collective.
“In San Miguel, we want to help the athletes in any way we can. My boss Ramon S. Ang donated 20 million so that we can help our Filipino athletes,” he said.
Receiving the checks with Vargas were POC chairman Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, secretary-general Pato Gregorio, deputy secretary-general Karen Caballero, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Al Panlilio, National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president Prospero Pichay, and Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) secretary Ed Picson.
Vargas said that there are already selected programs where the funds will go to.
The SMC contribution will be for a specific NSA that the company will opt to godfather, while the MVPSF fund will be for incentives of medal-winning athletes and programs.
The PBA contribution, meanwhile, is geared towards the training and development of the athletes for the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia and the 2019 SEA Games here in the country.