Philippines offering six-figure bonus for gold medal at London in 2012
Date: 22/01/2009
JANUARY 22 - ANY boxer from the Philippines who wins an Olympic gold medal at London in 2012 will earn a 17 million peso (£262,759) bonus, they have been promised.
The incentive was unveiled by Manny V. Pangilinan, the chairman of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP).
He has promised to award an Olympic champion with 12 million peso (£186,844) on top of the 5 million peso (£77,282) already offered by the Government.
The new bonus is courtesy of Smart Communications Inc and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, who are chaired by Pangilian, one of the country’s most successful businessmen.
He said: “This is our first step…to London.
“Stay with us with our quest.”
The Philippines, the world’s 12th largest country with a population of 90.5 million, have competed in every Olympics since Paris in 1924 - except for Moscow in 1980 when they joined the United States-led boycott over the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan - but have never won a gold medal.
Their best performances have both come in boxing, where Anthony Villanueva and Mansueto Velasco won silver medals at Tokyo in 1964 and Atlanta in 1996 respectively.
Pangilinan said: “This is a national effort and this is something we would like to achieve in this sports that is very close to the heart of the Filipinos.
“Now that I have clarified our target, now that we have planned everything we need, the time has come for us to execute and win the war.
"I call each and everyone to execute with all their might, with all their strength.”
Ricky Vargas, the president of the ABAP, who is also senior vice-president of Smart-PLDT, said: “We’d like to keep the talent in amateur boxing.
"We are developing an incentive programme that rewards performance.”
The Government-led award scheme under Republic Act 6084, or the Athletes Incentive Act, also promises a silver medal in London is worth 3 million peso (£46,485) and a bronze 1 million peso (£15,495).
[b]The Government is also offering cash prizes for other major events.
These include gold medal in the World Championship, which is worth 1 million peso (£15,495), silver 500,000 peso (£7,752) and bronze 250,000 peso (£3,875).
In the 2010 Asian Games, a gold would make the winner 2 million peso (£31,002) richer, for silver, it is 1 million peso (£15,495) and bronze 500,000 peso (£7,752).
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