UPON the initiative of Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio and with full PSC board approval, former national athletes and Southeast Asian Games gold medalists Ramon “Onchie” Dela Cruz and Christiana Means will each get P300,000 from the PSC for their respective knee surgeries.
Lester Sabigan, head of the government sports agency’s Medical and Scientific Athletes Services, said the PSC had approved the financial assistance for basketball player Dela Cruz and skateboarder Means after both former national team campaigners aired their need for aid through social media.
“Through the effort of Chairman Gregorio and the PSC board’s approval,
Dela Cruz and Means will each get P300,000 so they can undergo knee surgery,” Sabigan said.
A bull-strong point guard and enforcer during his PBA heydays, Dela Cruz, also dubbed “Jaworski Jr.” for his devil-may-care playmaking, made his plea last month, asking for government support to repair his damaged knees.
The mercurial playmaker helped the national men’s basketball squad to a gold medal in the 1983 Singapore Southeast Asian Games and had a checkered career in the pros.
Means, who won one gold and two silvers in skateboarding in the 2019 Philippine SEA Games, also used her social media accounts to ask for help.
Sabigan disclosed that Means would go to Europe next month to have ACL surgery on her right knee.
Extending financial aid to former national athletes needing medical assistance after giving pride and honor to the country has been a long-standing practice of the PSC since it was created in 1990.
Former PSC chairman Butch Ramirez extended aid to Seoul Olympic Games boxing bronze medalist Leopoldo Serrantes, who fell ill and required long hospitalization before passing away in 2021 at the age of 59.
