By Hydee Templonuevo | Philippine News Agency
GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The Department of Education (DepEd) in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) has allotted some PHP3 million as incentives for winning athletes in the ongoing 2019 Palarong Pambansa in Davao City.
Dr. Allan Farnazo, DepEd-12 director, said Thursday that they doubled their budget for the incentive from last year’s PHP1.5 million to encourage athletes to work harder and strive to win more medals for the region.
Farnazo said that under the new cash incentive scheme, gold medalists will receive PHP20,000, while the silver and bronze winners will get PHP5,000 and PHP3,000, respectively.
The DepEd-12 official said they will give an additional PHP10,000 for Soccsksargen’s first three gold medalists.
“Our generosity is also due to the open-handedness of those who supported us,” said Farnazo, who heads the Soccsksargen Regional Athletic Association or SRAA delegation.
He was referring to the PHP24.5 million funding contributed by local government units in Soccsksargen for the SRAA warriors.
As of Thursday morning, SRAA is in fourth place in the overall medal tally with 18 golds, 28 silvers, and 15 bronzes, trailing perennial powerhouses National Capital Region, Western Visayas, and Calabarzon.
At least 14 of SRAA’s 18 gold medals, which is just three shy of its total haul in the 2018 Palaro in Ilocos Sur, came from arnis.
Long jump artist Hazel Domocum of Banga, South Cotabato set a new Palaro record in elementary girls category last Monday with 5.08 meters (m).
The 12-year-old pride of the province’s Tboli tribe broke the nine-year record of 5.07m set by Alyssa Marie Andrade of Western Visayas during the 2010 Palarong Pambansa in Tarlac.
Farnazo said he is hoping that the region will maintain the fourth rank in the medal standings until the end of the annual national games.
He said they are targeting to get at least 12 more gold medals or a total of 30 this year in the remaining events.
For the latest update (s) about the story, visit the Philippine News Agency website
