PSC to athletes: Snub PNG, suffer pay cut

National athletes from any of the 10 sports previously identified as priority disciplines face a cut in allowances if they do not see action in the coming Philippine National Games.

Philippine Sports Commission chair Richie Garcia issued this directive yesterday on the heels of an Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines (Abap) request that the sport be excused from the PNG because of the possible mismatches it could create between well-trained members of the national pool and up-and-coming pugs.

Because boxing is one of the government agency’s 10 priority sports, national fighters receive as much as P40,000 a month in allowances.

Appearing at the Scoop sa Kamayan session yesterday, Garcia said the PNG consolidates the National Opens of all NSAs and thus must feature the country’s finest athletes.

The PNG fires off on May 25 at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila and Philsports complex in Pasig with about 10,000 athletes seeing action in 41 sports.

Garcia said it is up to the technical officials to decide if fighters face danger atop the ring. After all, he said, the officials will be provided by the Abap itself.

“The coming PNG, as the name connotes, is the National Games,” said Garcia. “It means that not only the young and up-and-coming athletes must take part in it but, most importantly, the members of the national training pool.”

Garcia said the athletes who fail to compete in the PNG will be demoted to a lower classification with lesser pay.

“The allowances of priority athletes receiving P40,000 will be reduced to, say P15,000, or whatever the amount specified in the classification he or she will be demoted to,” he said.