Filipino athletes who will win in this year’s Southeast Asian Games will receive incentives and medals from President Duterte in a bid to boost their morale, Malacañang announced yesterday.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo announced the package of incentives for the athletes after appealing for an end to the “raucous bashing” of the games as well as support for the athletes.
“To end on a high note, the Palace wishes to announce that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will give incentives and even medals in the Order of Lapu-Lapu to the winning athletes,” Panelo said. “To all the athletes participating in the games, we wish them the best of luck as they display their wares and talents in the competition,” he added.
Panelo did not yet specify the amount of the incentives for the SEAG medalists.
The Order of Lapu-Lapu is given to persons in government or private sector who gave extraordinary service or exceptional contributions to the success of the President’s campaign or advocacy.
The additional incentives for the athletes was made upon the recommendation of Sen. Christoper Go who wanted to encourage them to perform well despite the controversies besetting the tournament.
“I suggested to him na bigyan ng awards and incentives ang athletes natin nang maengganyo namang lumaban despite the controversies. I-boost natin ang kanilang morale para manalo tayo,” Go said.
Recognizing there is “something wrong” with the preparations for the SEAG, Malacañang has urged the organizers to rectify the errors and offer “better services.”
Panelo said Malacanang has closely monitored the country’s hosting of the games and observed the errors committed by the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee.
“While organizing multi-sport events has always been complex for host countries, with inevitable problems arising before and during the games due to the number of athletes, staff, and sporting officials participating, the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee should perform better services expected of them,” Panelo said.
Panelo agreed with the critics of PHISGOC about the reported lapses in preparing and organizing the regional sports tournament.
“An array of criticisms has been made on how PHISGOC has handled the logistics of this momentous event, and these should be accepted and considered in order to rectify the errors it has committed,” he said.
“The critics have a point. There is indeed something wrong with the preparations,” he said. (Genalyn Kabiling)
