Saturday, December 20, 2008 POF athletes to get P900T incentives By Roderick Osis
AN EARLY Christmas gift for a job well done.
Baguio athletes who competed in the recently concluded 3rd Philippine Olympic Festival (POF) will get roughly P900,000 in cash incentives from the City Government, Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. assured.
Bautista, during the weekly Ugnayang Panlungsod, said athletes who participated in the POF will have their incentives ready before Christmas.
Baguio delegates romped to fourth place over-all after bagging 38 gold, 40 silver, and 40 bronze medals. Bulk of the city's gold medals come from archery, wrestling, taekwondo, and karate-do.
"We are very pleased to note (and) we are happy with the city's performance in the Philippine Olympic Festival," Bautista told Sun.Star.
Laguna placed first with 57 gold, 25 silver, and 36 bronze medals followed by General Santos City with 46 gold, 30 silver, and 29 bronze medals.
Zamboanga City placed third with a 40-26-25 bronze performance. Defending Champion Manila dropped to fifth place with its 36 gold, 30 silver, and 16 bronze medals.
According to Mayor Bautista, the incentives would be prioritized to the medal finishers of the action packed sports event as part of the city's sports incentive act program.
"Definitely, our athletes showed Baguio can perform beyond expectations even defeating power house Manila which means we can shine in any sporting event," he said.
About 3,000 athletes show action in the six-day athletic meet that gave out 478 gold medals in the national finals of the 3rd POF, which opened Friday.
Organizers of the athletic meet held at the Don Gregorio Pelaez Sports Complex in Cagayan De Oro City, said the event is a hunting ground for potential RP team members.
Events included swimming, track and field, softball, badminton, chess, judo, and table tennis. Nine gold medals are at stake in the sprint events and one medal each for first batch of sports events.
Also were gymnastics, archery, karatedo, muay, powerlifting, taekwondo, and freestyle wrestling.
Other sports played in the meet were indoor and beach volleyball, basketball, softball, and sepak takraw.
Aside from the pot of gold medals, the POF also gave away 422 silver and 458 bronze medals.
