ATHLETES who delivered gold medals for the country in the 30th Southeast Asian Games will receive a windfall from the Philippine Olympic Committee today in simple rites at the Conrad Hotel in Pasay City.
POC Communications Director Ed Picson yesterday said that only the 149 gold medalists will be given their incentives today while the silver and bronze medalists will get theirs on Thursday and Friday, respectively, at the POC office inside the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Each individual gold medal is worth P200,000 while the winning pair in such sports as dancesport will receive P100,000 each. Team gold medalists composed of three to four members will receive P75,000 each while those five and above will get P50,000 each.
Individual silver medalists will get P100,000 while teams with two members will each get half of that amount. Squads composed of three athletes and above will receive P30,000 apiece.
All bronze medalists, whether individual or part of a team, will get P30,000 a piece.
Picson said the cash bonuses will be given after the POC general assembly meeting.
Tomorrow, the medalist will make a courtesy call on President Duterte at Malacanang to receive their incentives from the Philippine Sports Commission and the additional bonus that Duterte has promised.
Among the biggest recipients is gymnast Carl Eldrew Yulo, who bagged two gold and five silver medals in his SEA Games debut at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, netting a total of P700,000.
The Olympic-bound Yulo, currently training in Tokyo with Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya, won’t be around to receive his incentive. He is only set to arrive this Friday to spend time with his family for the holidays.
Another huge beneficiary is Fil-Am runner Eric Shawn Cray, who will receive P305,000 for retaining the men’s 400-meter hurdles crown, being a member of the PH squad that ruled the 4×100-meter mixed relay, and the PH squad that copped the bronze in the 4×100-meter men’s relay.
Fellow Fil-Am and swimmer James Deiparine will gain P300,000 for the gold and silver medal that he won in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke and 50-meter breaststroke races, respectively.
While she failed to win a gold, veteran swimmer Jasmine Alkhaldi will still get a total of P240,000 in incentives — for the five individual bronze medals she won, a silver each in the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relays plus another bronze in the 4×200-meter freestyle relays.
POC president Bambol Tolentino said the P52.87 million in incentives the Olympic body will give away to the athletes was raised with the help of businessman Dennis Uy, the Presidential Adviser for Sports, as well as through the assistance of his colleagues in Congress.
