Filipino athletes training for the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia in May can now shift to high gear in their preparation for the biennial meet after the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation turned over on January 19, a total of P256.38 million in remittances to the Philippine Sports Commission.
Said amount represents PAGCOR’s mandated contributions to the government sports body for the months of November (P124.45 million) and December (P131.93 million) last year.
PAGCOR chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco personally handed the state-run gaming firm’s remittances to newly-appointed PSC chairman Richard Bachmann in a simple turnover ceremony held at the PAGCOR Executive Office in Malate, Manila.
“With the amount that we remitted, we hope to contribute significantly to the training of our national athletes for various international competitions and to the further development of Philippine sports. Our future remittances will be bigger as our operations are slowly easing back to normalcy,” Tengco said.
Bachmann, on the other hand, expressed extreme gratitude to the state-run gaming firm for its latest remittances to the PSC, saying they would be very beneficial especially to the players representing the country in the Cambodia SEAG.
“This is definitely a big help to us as there are already a lot of requests coming from the NSAs (National Sports Associations) for equipment that they need for the training of their athletes for the coming SEA Games. Wala na tayong problema sa pondo pagdating dito,” Bachmann noted.
Besides remitting its mandated shares to PSC, PAGCOR also hands cash grants to athletes and coaches who win in international competitions under the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act.
The agency played a vital role in the successful staging of the 30th SEAG in 2019 by donating P842.50 million to the PSC for the rehabilitation of major sports facilities utilized for the Games. Among these sports facilities were the Rizal Memorial Coliseum and Ninoy Aquino Stadium inside the historic Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Malate, Manila and the Philsports Complex Multipurpose Arena in Pasig City.
The state-run gaming firm also made financial contribution to the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee for the hosting of the biennial meet.