WORLD No. 6 Ernest John “EJ” Obiena would earn at least P250,000 as incentives from government and possibly more for setting a new national and Asian record during his recent bronze-medal performance in the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) executive director and officer-in-charge Atty. Guillermo Iroy, Jr. on Wednesday told The STAR Mr. Obiena would get a reward for setting a new national and Asian record of 5.94 meters in the Eugene meet.
Mr. Iroy did not mention the exact amount, but the agency had rewarded Mr. Obiena P250,000 several times last year for breaking the national and Asian marks including the previous record of 5.93m the latter set in the Golden Roof Challenge in Innsbruck, Austria.
“We’re still waiting for the official report from PATAFA,” said Mr. Iroy referring to the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) headed by Terry Capistrano. “For us, once the board convenes, we will recommend incentive for the record broken.”
Mr. Iroy, however, said it could not give incentives to the bronze since the Worlds gave out prize money to the first up to eighth placers in individual events with a gold worth $70,000, a silver $35,000 and a bronze $22,000 based on documents coming from the PSC.
Based on RA 10699 or the expanded National Athletes and Coaches Incentives Act, “competitions granting prize money shall not be included.”
“For the regular incentives, considering it is a competition with cash prizes and we will follow the law,” said Mr. Iroy.
A bronze in a world-level event done every two years would have meant extra P100,000 for the Southeast Asian Games gold medalist. — Joey Villar