Gold medallist Philippines’ Hidilyn Diaz stands on the podium for the victory ceremony of the women’s 55kg weightlifting competition during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at the Tokyo International Forum. (Photo by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The MVP Sports Foundation (MVPSF) has released a whopping P40.5-million in cash incentives for Filipino Olympic participants two days after the Tokyo Games drew its curtains.
Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz already received her P10-million cash bonus from the sports foundation run by sports patron Manny V. Pangilinan.
Boxing silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam also received their P5-million reward while bronze medalist Eumir Marcial already pocketed his P2-million reward from the MVPSF.
“It’s a breakthrough and a milestone event for Philippine sports as we’ve had our best medal haul including our first-ever gold,” said MVPSF Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan.
“It is only right for the nation and the athletes to celebrate what has been achieved. Once the celebration settles, we go back to work.”
“Much more will be expected from us in Paris,” said Ricky Vargas, member of the MVPSF Board of Trustees and the President of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP).
“After giving our athletes enough time to celebrate and rest, the athletes will be preparing for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games.”
Vargas also echoed Pangilinan’s desire for the grassroots development of Philippine sports with the forming of the Philippine Businesses for Sports Development.
Also, the MVPSF did not forget the Olympic medalists’ coaches by allocating P11-million worth of cash incentives for them.
“The MVPSF knows that it takes a village to win a medal in the Olympics. It takes combined efforts from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), and the private sector to help our athletes succeed,” said MVPSF President Al Panlilio.
“The coaches also sacrificed as they were away from their families as much as the athletes so they should also be compensated for their athletes’ success.”
The MVPSF will also allot P7.5-million for the 15 Filipino Olympians who didn’t win medals. Each of them will receive P500,000 through the Philippine Olympic Committee.
Among the 15 Olympians are three Cebuanas Elreen Ando (weightlifting), Margielyn Didal (skateboarding), and Kiyomi Watanabe (judo).
“In the past 10 years, the MVP Sports Foundation has spent more than two billion pesos in total,” said Pangilinan, whose organization has aided athletes from different sports in the past decade, culminating in the Philippines four-medal haul in the Tokyo Olympics.
“Our investment in the country’s sports development is all worth it when we see the effort of our athletes to represent the country to the best of their abilities. The victories they achieve and the pride they give our country are priceless.” /rcg