PH Olympians get status, monthly pay upgrade

Filipino athletes who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics will automatically get their status—and their monthly pay—bumped up, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) said on Tuesday.

The government’s sports financing arm approved of six athletes’ raise during Tuesday’s board meeting.

“Before, some of them were Class B and C [athletes],” said PSC chief Butch Ramirez. “When they … qualified to Tokyo Olympics they all become highest paid elite athletes of the national pool.”

“Once you are upgraded to Class A, [you] become top priority elite athletes of the national pool,” he added.

The six upgraded athletes were boxer Carlo Paalam, taekwondo jin Kurt Bryan Barbosa, rower Cris Nievarez, skateboarder Margielyn Didal, judoka Kiyomi Watanabe and weightlifter Elreen Ando.

Of the six, Ando got the biggest raise. The lifter from Cebu used to be a Class C athlete and her pay went from P24,000 to P43,000 as a Priority A Class athlete.

Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz and world boxing champion Nesthy Petecio are the highest paid national athletes, with both getting P45,000 as Platinum Class athletes.

Also in the Class A list are pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, boxers Irish Magno and Eumir Felix Marcial and gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo.

Expected to make the list are golfers Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan and Juvic Pagunsan. INQ