Bambol: National athletes and coaches to receive full assignments next week

National athletes and coaches can now get their full assignments starting next week, Philippine Olympic Committee President Bambol Tolentino announced Thursday.

Monthly allocations have been cut in half since July after the Philippine Sports Commission’s budget was channeled into pandemic efforts.

But Tolentino, who was also a Representative for Tagaytay, was able to include a provision in House Bill No. 6953 or Bayanihan Act 2, an amount that would cover all the appropriations cut in recent months.

“This is good news for our athletes who have become anxious and even lost concentration during the pandemic,” Tolentino said in a statement.

“With their assignments back to normal, they can now focus on their training.”

Bayanihan Law 2 provides 180 million pesos for national team members’ assignments.

“And that’s retroactive from July,” Tolentino said.

Athletes and coaches will also receive an additional P5,000 in cash aid generated by the pandemic.

“The funds are now with the PSC and we expect the allocations to return to normal next payday for athletes and coaches,” Tolentino said.

There are 996 athletes, 262 coaches, 280 disabled athletes and 82 for coaches in the national team. His total monthly payroll is P41 million.