DABAWENYO medalists in the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games 2019 thanked the City Government of Davao for acknowledging their efforts to bring honor not just for the city but also for the country by giving them cash incentives, amounting to a total of P335,000.
The city pegged a cash incentive of P30,000 for every individual gold medalist and P25,000 for team gold medalist. A silver medal is worth P20,000 while a bronze is equivalent to a P10,000 cash bonus.
Tokyo Olympics-bound Nesthy Alcayde Petecio, whose amateur boxing career began in Davao City, was elated by the news that her cash incentive of P30,000 for winning a gold medal in the 30th SEA Games women's featherweight division is ready for her to claim.
"Dako kaayo akoang pasalamat kay Mayor Sara Duterte og sa Davao City kay ilaha gihapon ko gi-recognize nga usa ka atleta sa Davao (I am so thankful to Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and to Davao City for they still recognize me as a Davao athlete)," said Petecio who is currently training in Bangkok, Thailand with the rest of the national boxing team.
Petecio also said, "Wala ko magdahom sa blessing nga ilahang gihatag para nako. Salamat kaayo, Mayor og Davao City kay ang inyohang suporta sa akoa naa gihapon. God bless you more Mayor og good health lang permi. Daghang salamat jud kaayo (I didn't expect the blessing that they gave me. Thank you, Mayor and Davao City, for your continued support to me. God bless you more, Mayor, and may you have good health always. Thank you very much)."
Fellow gold medalists Jezebel Morcillo (women's arnis live stick bantamweight) and Chino Sy (men's sambo 82 kg) are also recipients of the P30,000 cash bonus.
Morcillo said, "Nagpasalamat ko sa LGU sa Davao, most especially kay Mayor Sara sa paghatag sa amo aning incentives, makatabang kaayo nig dako sa ako ug sa akong family ning panahon karun na pandemic (I am so grateful to the Davao City LGU, most especially to Mayor Sara, for giving us incentives. This is a great help to me and my family during this pandemic)."
Chino, for his part, also said: "Maraming salamat po sa City Government for supporting the athletes po kahit ngayong pandemic, malaking tulong po kasi wala pang allowance for the national team po (Thank you very much to the city government of Davao for supporting the athletes even during the pandemic, this is really a great help for us since we still haven't receive our allowance from the national team)."
Men's soft tennis gold medal team performer Mark Anthony Alcoseba said he has always been a proud Dabawenyo.
"Happy kaayo ko ug proud na Davao City ko nagdako. Lami kaayo sa feeling na sa Davao ka nagpuyo ug dala nimu ang lugar. Daghang salamat pud sa mga officials nato sa Davao City na matagaan mi ug pansin. Thank you din kay Mayor Inday Sara, para sa amoang mga atleta sa Davao, happy mi na amoang mayor very supportive ug unta malampasan na ang pandemic (I am so proud to be born and raised in Davao City. It's a great feeling to live in Davao. I thank the Davao City officials for giving us attention. Thank you to Mayor Inday Sara, Davao athletes are happy to have a very supportive mayor and we hope we all can surpass the pandemic)," Alcoseba, who is set to receive P25,000 along with obstacle race mixed double team gold medalists Nathaniel Sanchez and Klymille Keilah Rodriguez, said in a separate Facebook chat interview.
Sanchez said he could never thank the mayor and all Dabawenyos enough for their support in the past biennial Games. He said, “Dakong pasalamat nako sa government sa Davao sa incentive nga nadawat namo. Kini dakong tabang sa amoa isip mga atleta kay labina pandemic karon lisod mag sideline. Salamat, Mayor Sara Duterte (I'm super thankful to the city government of Davao for the incentives. This is a huge help for us athletes during the pandemic considering that it's difficult to have side jobs. Thank you, Mayor Sara Duterte).”
Davao City's 30th SEA Games silver medalists were Jenielou Mosqueda (women's kurash 57 kg), Marc Alexander Lim (men's jiu jitsu 69 kg), Agot Danton (women's rugby football), Mummar Alamara (men's water polo), Abnel Amiladjid (men's water polo), and Francis Phillip Saura; while Sydney Sy (women's kurash +70 kg), Jackielou Escarpe (men's judo team), Carl Dave Aseneta (men's judo 90 kg), Sonny Wagdos (men's 5,000-meter run), and Mary Pauline Fornea (mixed relay duathlon) were the bronze winners.