Cordillera athletes’ allowance cut to half

HALF IT IS. Philippine Wushu Team member Daniel Parantac show form in a photoshoot last March. The allowance of national athletes has been cut to half recently, forcing them to tighten their belts to survive. (PNA file photo)

By Pigeon Lobien  

BAGUIO CITY – When national athletes check on their bank accounts using their Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) issued ATM (automatic teller machine) cards with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) on Wednesday, the usual amount remitted to them by the national sports body will just half of what they usually receive monthly.

“Sa 10 kada buwan namin nakukuha ang allowance namin (It’s on the 10th of every month that we receive our allowance),” said 18-year old Abegail Abad, a member of the Philippine Arnis Team who won a gold in the last Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in December last year.

It was a difficult decision for the PSC to cut the allowance to half of the national team members who made a rare splash in the biennial meet late last year with a stunning performance that netted the country its second over-all title in the 11-nation sports competitions.

That performance totally overshadowed the 2005 Manila hosted haul of 113 golds, 85 silver, and 93 bronze medals with an unprecedented 149 gold medals of which some 40 gold medals were provided for by Cordillera athletes.

But seven months after a performance worthy of the books and an unprecedented collective athlete of the year citation from the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA), now these athletes will be getting a monthly stipend half their worth.

It is a cost-cutting move by the PSC, which was earlier opted to be able to continue giving the athletes their allowance as the bulk of its budget was returned to the national coffers to help in the efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

To make matters worse, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) stopped all gaming events, thereby losing its source of income, which is also the source of money for the PSC, and the allowance of the athletes.

The PSC had a hard choice to make that also saw the cancellation of major national events like the Philippines National Games (PNG) and the Batang Pinoy for 15 years old and younger athletes.

It also canceled the World Arnis Cali Eskrima Championship slated this month in Cebu City. “Talaga pong sayang yung world arnis at di natuloy (It is really a waste that the world arnis championship did not push through),” said Eza Rai Yalong of the Philippine arnis team, who will see her bank account swell to only half of what it usually receive every 10th of the month.

“The allowance we get form the PSC is really big help,” said Yalong, who along with Abad, Elmer Manlapas, Billy Joel, and Donlee Aliga, who receives a minimum as a class B athlete as a member of the national training pool.

Last month, Yalong said that they received their allowances early. “Good news at maaga namin nakuha allowance at buo pa din [last month] (Good news we received our allowance early and in full),” Yalong told the Philippine News Agency.

Top tier athletes like boxer Nesthy Petecio will see her PHP45,000 monthly stipend cut to half.

Other national athletes who are based here are boxers Josie Gabuco, Aira Villegas, and Olympics bound Irish Magno.

Teener muay Thai athlete Islay Bomogao will also see a reduction of her allowance though she describes it as not as “big” as other athletes, it was put to good use during the last two months when she donated it for relief operations.

“I had so many blessings anyways last year,” said the 19-year older daughter of a Baguio councilor.

PSC chairman William Ramirez said that if things normalize soon, the athletes could receive their allowances in full before the end of the year. (PNA)

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