POC, Ramon Ang, Manny Pangilinan sow athletes’ trust fund seeds

Members of the Philippine contingent led by pole vaulter EJ Obiena hold their national flags during the opening ceremony of the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on May 12, 2022. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP)

The principal backers of Philippine sports have pooled their resources together for the seeding of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) special incentive trust fund for medalist athletes.

POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino expressed his gratitude to Ramon S. Ang and San Miguel Corporation and Manuel V. Pangilinan and his MVP Sports Foundation, Smart and PLDT for committing themselves for the first trust fund for medal-performing athletes in the country.

“The POC expresses its gratitude to Mr. RSA (Ang) and Mr. MVP (Pangilinan) for their relentless and enthusiastic support to the trust fund, which is envisioned to inspire our athletes to level up further in their pursuit of victories overseas,” said Tolentino.

Another major contributor has joined their ranks in Charlie Gonzales’s Ulticon Builders Inc., which threw its support to the trust fund that complements the incentive program of the government through the Philippine Sports Commission.

According to Tolentino, the added monetary bonuses from the trust fund would be a strong motivation for athletes set to compete in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia next year as well as the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China that was postponed to September 2023.

“It will be a very busy year for Philippine sports and, like how we did this year, the POC will again guarantee medalist athletes their incentives for them to excel even more,” said Tolentino.

The local Olympic body under Tolentino started distributing the additional cash incentives to medalists in the Tokyo Olympics and the 31st SEA Games last May. The POC released P11.150 million in monetary bonuses to 417 athletes who collected 52 gold, 70 silver and 105 bronze medals in Vietnam.

“All donations from private corporations will automatically go to that incentive trust fund for athletes,” said Tolentino.

The POC special incentive trust fund program will encourage private sector backing to reward medalists in the SEA Games, Asian Games and the Olympics.