Bill granting retirement pension, other benefits to PH athletes filed

By Maricel V. Cruz

ABILL was filed at the House of Representatives providing retirement, healthcare, and death benefits to professional Filipino athletes, who bag the championships in international sports competitions.

House Bill 5161, filed by Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, will be a way of recognizing the glory and honor that Filipino world sports champions have brought to the country.

Duterte’s bill was co-authored by Benguet Rep. Eric Yap and ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Edvic Yap.

Professional Filipino athletes eligible for the benefits under the bill refer to those “who win world championship titles in international professional sports competitions or in other equally prestigious world championship games.”

HB 5161 also provides for the creation of a Professional Filipino Athletes Welfare Development Trust Fund to be administered by the Games and Amusements Board. The fund will be used for the continued upgrading of sports training facilities so that these conform with international standards. It will also be used for the accreditation of, and other forms of support to, the professional athletes’ sector.

Under the measure, professional athletes who win in individual events in international sports competitions will receive a lifetime monthly pension of at least P15,000 by the time they reach the age of 50.

For winners in team events, the bill provides for a lifetime monthly pension of at least P10,000.

The retirement benefits for individual events shall apply for athletes, who emerge as champions in both individual and team efforts, the bill likewise states.

“Before all their triumphs, athletes go through extreme lengths and dedicate most of their years in training to be the best at what they do. They train under high expectations and high-intensity environments, which make them more vulnerable to exhaustion, burnout, physical injuries and psychological distress,” the bill’s authors said.

“It is high time that we support our athletes, not just at the podium, but even beyond all their glory,” they added.

They recalled the case of the late Filipino sports icon Lydia de VegaMercado, who was recognized as “Asia’s Sprint Queen of the 1980s” and was a multi-time gold medalist in the Asian Games, Asian Athletics Championships and Southeast Asian Games.

Before passing away on August 10 last year, following a long battle with breast cancer, De Vega’s family called for prayers and financial help from the public to aid them in shouldering her medical treatment as they were not aware of any fund or assistance available for Filipino athletes to

PH bets fall by 7 shots in men’s, women’s golf

turn to during times of extreme need.

To help ailing professional Filipino sports champions, health care benefits under HB 5161 include the standard benefits provided by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and financial aid provided by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Under the measure, hospital expenses incurred by the athlete in excess of the Philhealth benefit shall be shouldered by the PCSO under its Individual Medical Assistance Program.

The bill also provides a death benefit of P50,000 to the primary or secondary beneficiaries of deceased sports champions to help cover funeral costs and other related expenses.

As for the trust fund for Filipino athletes, the bill states that an amount “not less than 80 percent for the first five years accrued from the licensing, registration and accreditation fees, fines and charges” imposed by the GAB shall be used for the fund.

The trust fund may also accept grants and donations from national and foreign entities and individuals, according to the bill.

PHNOM PENH—Paolo Wong failed to recover from a frontside struggle and faltered with a 75, tumbling from joint third to a share of 19th in men’s play while the ladies tandem of Lois Kaye Go and Rianne Malixi stayed too far behind despite a pair of 68s in the second round of the golf competitions of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games here Tuesday.

Though Enrique Dimayuga bounced back strong from an opening 73 with a near-impeccable 68 in hot conditions, the new national team member remained seven strokes adrift of a steady Khanh Hung Le, who broke away from a first round tie with Malaysian Malcolm Hung with a 65 behind a solid eagle-spiked backside 31.

The Vietnamese took the solo lead with a 10-under 134 total but braced for a daunting challenge in the last 18 holes as Ratchanon Chantananuwat bettered Le’s seven-under card with a 64, also highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 No. 11, as the fancied Thai, winner of an Asian Tour event last year, moved threateningly close at 136 for joint second with Malaysian Anzon Xiang, who also shot an eight-under card.

TARLAC—Zanieboy Gialon and Michael Bibat duked it out in an early clash of will in furnace-like conditions in separate flights before the former pounced on a two-shot swing on the last hole to wrest control with a solid 65 at the start of the ICTSI Luisita Championship here on Tuesday.

Gialon, motivated by a clutch par on the tough No. 17, birdied the closing hole from short range to complete a sterling 31-34 round then watched Bibat hole out with a bogey to pull ahead by one in the P2 million championship serving as the fourth leg of this year’s Philippine Golf Tour.

The final hole mishap blemished an otherwise fine round for the bighitting Bibat, who nevertheless left the Luisita Golf and Country Club course satisfied with a 66 for solo second after winding up eighth in the last PGT leg at Caliraya Springs.

The Davaoeño shotmaker set the tone for the birdie-blitz at the Robert

Trent Jones, Sr.-designed layout three flights ahead of Bibat with a blistering five-under frontside 31. The winner of the inaugural ICTSI Caliraya Springs Championship last year then came away with two more birdies at the back to finish with a 65 he spiked with what he described as a key par on No. 17.

“I told myself that I could just make a par on Luisita’s signature hole (the daunting par-3 17th), I might be able to birdie the 18th and go seven-under,” said Gialon.

He did as he found himself on top of a stellar field while leading the assault on the demanding layout that however yielded 20 under-par scores in the absence of the wind.

Gialon went back home after failing to defend the Caliraya Springs crown with a tied for 12th finish and worked on his short game and putting, producing great results as he missed just a couple of fairways while hitting 15 greens.

“Fairway-green lang in the next three

Constantino loses touch, drops to joint lead with Uy

TARLAC—Harmie Constantino stumbled at the finish, yielding two strokes on No. 18 on a three-putt miscue and ending up with a 71, enabling Daniella Uy to gain a share of the lead after 18 holes of the ICTSI Luisita Championship at the Luisita Golf and Country Club here on Tuesday.

The back-to-back winner of the final two legs of last year’s Ladies Philippine Golf Tour at Pradera Verde and Villamor was cruising control with a four-birdie feat against a bogey after 17 holes. But she missed the par-4 18th then three-putted, spoiling what could’ve been a blistering start for the diminutive but talented shotmaker who birdied all but one of the four par-5 holes.

“Nahirapan ako sa green at yung distance sa putting,” said Constantino, who made a swing change after finishing tied for third at

Caliraya Springs topped by Epson Tour campaign Pauline del Rosario. “I also struggled on my long game but overall, it’s a pretty good one – saved some pars than I thought and kind of held on to my scores.”

Uy, in pursuit of a second victory after scoring a breakthrough at the tough Riviera-Langer in 2021, stayed focused off the mound and rebounded from a bogey on the first hole with birdies on Nos. 4 and 12, gaining a shared view of the top with six straight pars.

“I know I need to hit straight drives here, mahirap magkamali dito (Luisita) kasi malamang ma-puno ka,” said Uy, who hopes to further improve on her ball-striking in the last two rounds to get a crack at the crown after blowing her bids in Iloilo and Caliraya Springs.

Constantino and Uy’s one-under par cards put them four strokes clear of Sarah Ababa days para tuloy-tuloy,” said Gialon, whose 65 was one stroke short of the course record set by Clyde Mondilla in the winning the Luisita Invitational in 2018.

Bibat also polished his short irons during the break and worked on the mental side for four weeks, saying: “It really helped as I was able to focus on each shot.” and Gretchen Villacencio, who matched 75s, while Florence Bisera and Pamela Mariano hobbled with 76s for a share of fifth with amateur Laurea Duque.

Journeyman Rico Depilo likewise flourished in the heat, joining the lowscoring spree with a 68 for joint third with Marvin Dumandan and Korean Kim Min Seong even as a number of the PGT big guns found the going a lot tougher in the early going of the 72hole championship organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. But Frankie Miñoza flashed vintage form as he bucked a frontside 37 with four birdies in the last nine holes, including the last two, as he moved to solo sixth with a 69, a stroke ahead of Jhonnel Ababa, Francis Morilla and Korean Kang Chon Koo, who matched 70s.

Korean Kim Seoyun, who lost by one to del Rosario at Caliraya, recovered from a disastrous frontside 41 marred by two double with a backside 36 for a 77, while reigning LPGT Order of Merit winner Chihiro Ikeda and Korean Yang Ju Young matched 79s for a share of ninth in the 54-hole championship offering a total prize fund of P750,000.

Constantino took control early as she birdied the first long hole on No. 5 then gained another stroke on the par-4 seventh before missing a birdie chance on the next par-5 (No. 9). After dropping a stroke on the 10th, she birdied the 12th, another par-5, then poised to dominate the field with another feat on No. 16.

Hung slipped to fourth at 137 after a 68 even as Dimayuga moved from tied 15th to a share of seventh with Vietnam’s Dang Minh Nguyen, who shot a 69, but seven shots behind Le at 141. Aidric Chan also recovered with a 68 but still stood far off at joint 15th at 144 while Wong fumbled with a frontside 39 marred by a double-bogey on the par-5 No. 8 to fall to a share of 19th with teammate Jaden Dumdumaya, who carded a 71.

In women’s play, Thai Eila Galitsky moved in the threshold of an expected gold medal finish with a 66 as she grabbed the lead at 135, now one stroke ahead of erstwhile leader Ng Jing Xuen of Malaysia, who slowed down with a 69 after a 67 for a 136, setting the stage for a final round shootout with the reigning Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific champion.

Singapore’s Aloysa Atienza rallied with a 68 to seize solo third at 139 but remained four strokes off Galitsky while Go and Malixi improved to a share of fifth at 142 with Navaporn Soontreeyapas, also of Thailand, who put in a 70, behind the fourth-running Foong Zi Yu of Malaysia, who assembled a 141 after a 69.