By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is now ready to give the Philippine national athletes and coaches their allowances 100 percent after it was slashed to 50% due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham Tolentino shared that the budget went back to its normal flow due to the passing of the Bayanihan Act 2.
Under the Bayanihan Act, 180 million pesos was allocated for the national team members’ allowance for their training and the development paved the way for the good news.
Since the height of the pandemic, the PSC was forced to slash down national team members’ allowances to 50% because it was the only way to still support all the members despite the crisis.
“This is good news for our athletes who have become anxious and even lost their focus during the pandemic. With their allowances back to normal, they can now concentrate on their training,” said Tolentino.
The POC chief also added that all the members will receive a 5,000-peso COVID-19 aid and the 50% budget that was cut will be returned to them.
“The funds are now with the PSC and we expect the allowances to be back to normal on the next pay day for the athletes and coaches,” Tolentino explained.
