Philippine Olympic Committee secretary-general Patrick Gregorio announced yesterday that the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has approved the release of the equivalent of P1.5 million for the purchase of an official transport for the POC.
For their part, Toyota Motor Philippines has agreed to cover the cost of the balance of a 29-seater Toyota Coaster, listed at P3.453M
“This is part of our marketing efforts per instruction of POC president Ricky Vargas. Our marching orders were to source P100M in sponsorships and we are already at 90% of that goal after only a little over a year. We are confident that we will hit the target by end 2019”, Gregorio said.
Shortly after Vargas took over the POC reins last year, a total of P76M went into the POC coffers from San Miguel Corporation (P50M), MVP Sports Foundation (P20M) and the Philippine Basketball Association (P6M).
Summit Water and Milo also affirmed their continued support with their sponsorships of P1M and P1.225M, respectively.
Alfrancis Chua, San Miguel Corporation sports director said in a statement, “We have a lot of respect for Mr. Vargas who is also our chairman in the PBA. Although our teams are fierce rivals on the court, he has always conducted himself with fairness, competence and professionalism.”
“This is why San Miguel Corporation, through our president Mr. Ramon S. Ang, did not think twice in showing full support to Pres. Ricky’s programs in the POC,” Chua added.
The Max’s Group Inc (MGI) also recently committed a P10.5M sponsorship for athletes who will compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with the amount going not only to the athletes, but also to their families.
MGI president and CEO Robert Trota said “what better way to support Filipino athletes than to help them raise the country’s flag in international competitions? We share the vision of the POC and we are confident that under Pres. Vargas’ leadership, the athletes will benefit directly.”
Gregorio is enthusiastic at the private sector’s generosity.
“All these will go to the athletes, who are the centrepiece of Mr. Vargas’ programs. As a matter of fact, a total of P14.9M from the sponsorships, was given out as incentives to medalists in the last Asian Games and Youth Olympics. And we can do a lot more if only we could isolate sports from politics. I hope our fellow sports leaders would realize this”, Gregorio concluded.
Recently, all NSAs with athletes competing in the SEA Games received P100K each from the POC as assistance for their training expenses.
