CHOOKS-to-Go continues to honor the sports heroes of the past by giving back to them.
Leopoldo Serantes, who won a bronze medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, will receive P100,000 per month for life for his service to the country.
It’s a much-needed help for the 59-year-old native of Bicol who is suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and has been confined at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.
“Just like with Onyok Velasco, we cannot just forget the sports heroes that gave honor to our country in the past. We should continue to honor their legacy,” said Chooks-to-Go president Ronald Mascariñas.
“In the case of Leopoldo Serantes, we decided to give him a monthly allowance of P100,000 for the rest of his life so that he can live with dignity befitting a living hero.”
Serantes, the sixth Filipino overall to win an Olympic medal and a gold medalist in the Southeast Asian Games, is one of the childhood heroes of Velasco, who helped Mascariñas track the whereabouts of Serantes after a netizen in Jhay San Antonio raised his condition in a Facebook post.
“Si Leopoldo Serantes, isa ‘yang alamat sa boxing. Nung nag-uumpisa pa lang kami, nandiyan na siya. Siya na ‘yung tinitingala na namin,” said Velasco, a silver medalist in the 1996 Atlanta Games. “Nung nag-Olympics siya, dun na nag-umpisa yung pag-kaidolo namin sa kanya. Naka-medal siya tapos hindi rin siya ganun kalaking tao, maliit lang pero naka-medal at talagang malakas.
“Naisipan ko na ilapit siya sa Chooks-to-Go kasi natulungan din ako. Si Serantes, nangangailangan din ng tulong. Nangangailangan talaga siya ng tulong.”
