Bigger incentives for the best of Palaro

TAGUM CITY, Philippines – Gold medalists and record breakers will be going home with heavier pockets as the Department of Education (DepEd) increased the incentives for the top performers of the 2015 Palarong Pambansa.

Based on Palaro’s records, individual gold medalists and record breakers will get P3,000 ($67.40)*, while members of a winning team will get P2,000 ($44.93) each. 

Francis Allen dela Cruz, a member of the technical management of the 2015 Palarong Pambansa, said the winning athletes can get their incentives at the Secretariat Office located at Room 3 below the bleachers of the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex.

Athletes will need to present their official Palarong Pambansa identification card, or they can ask a DepEd official from their region to validate if they are indeed the winning athlete. 

“They just give us time to validate the results to make sure that it is official. If they won in the morning maybe they can come to us in the afternoon or the next day,” dela Cruz added. 

Dependent on sponsorships

However, most of the coaches said they have not heard or have not been informed about the cash incentives from DepEd.

Robby Soquino, a Central Visayas coach for tennis, said he only heard of the said incentives here. The same is true for Marlon Parohinog, who coaches the archery team of the National Capital Region.

According to Cesar Abalon, the deputy secretary general of this year’s national meet, they have been giving out incentives since 2012 but not as big as the ones they will be giving this year. 

In the previous years, they only gave out P500 ($11.24) and P1,000 ($22.47).

Abalon, also the chief of DepEd’s School Sports Events and Activities Units, admitted that the announcement for the cash incentives was delayed because they had to depend on sponsorships.

Republic Act 10588 or the Palarong Pambansa Act mandates the provision of incentives for both athletes and coaches. 

But since the budget for the incentive is taken from sponsorships, Abalon said their priority at the moment is the athletes.

Other incentives

Atheletes can also claim their incentives later on at the DepEd central office in Manila. They must personally get it, or authorize someone else to do so. 

Abalon said they cannot endorse it to their regional offices just yet because they have to check their processes with the Commission on Audit. But he assured that DepEd is already working on a system that will make it easier for the athletes to get their cash incentives. 

In the event the incentives are not claimed, the amount will go to the national fund. Abalon said he will check if athletes can still claim their incentives from previous Palaro years. 

The ongoing Palarong Pambansa is the largest grassroots sporting event in the Philippines that aims to develop the potentials of the youth to become responsible and globally-competitive citizens. – Rappler.com

*US$1 = P44.51