This is a result of all the sacrifice and hard work of everyone who pushed for chances at victory.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte (right) and PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez will welcome the national athletes in Malacañang on Wednesday.

It’s going to be merry Christmas for members of the national squad as President Rodrigo Duterte jacked up the cash incentives for those who emerged with medals in the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William “Butch” Ramirez yesterday announced the increase, saying that the Chief Executive will formally lead the distribution of incentives when he welcomes the athletes at Malacañang Palace on Wednesday.

Based on Republic Act 10699 — or the National Athletes and Coaches Benefit and Incentives Act — SEA Games gold medalists stand to receive P300,000 while silver and bronze medalists get P150,000 and P60,000, respectively.

But the President vowed to sweeten the pot as he added P250,000, P150,000 and P100,000 on the gold, silver and bronze medal winners.

This amount is aside from the P300,000 that Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino promised to hand over to medal winners in their Christmas party on Tuesday.

With that, the total haul of gold medal winners would be P850,000, more than enough to give their families a prosperous Christmas celebration.

“We are hoping and praying for this. But this is a sweet surprise that this is actually happening. I am so proud of our athlete,” said Ramirez, who also stands as chief of mission of Team Philippines.

“All of them deserve our respect and love.”

So far, the national team is on its way to its second overall title after posting 135 gold, 102 silver and 105 bronze medals.

Gymnast Caloy Yulo stands to have the biggest windfall after winning two gold and five silver medals, giving him cash incentive of roughly P3.2 million.

Ramirez said he doesn’t want to declare victory until the last day.

But with the national squad way ahead of the medal standing from pursuers Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, it’s now safe to say that the Philippines would be the overall champion.

“As much as possible, I don’t want to celebrate until the final day. But with our team ahead in the standings, I couldn’t help but to congratulate them for a job well done,” said Ramirez, who was also the chief of mission when the national squad claimed the overall title in 2005, a feat dubbed as the “Miracle in Manila.”

“This is a result of all the sacrifice and hard work of everyone who pushed for chances at victory.”

“This victory is very sweet given the many difficulties we had to face. This win proves that we can achieve a lot 18 we come together united as one team.”

Ramirez, however, stressed that winning the title is just a mere icing on the cake.

“The Southeast Asian Games is not about medals,” he said.

“It is about the lessons that we gained from the Games. These are the values that we have seen and the character that the athletes have shown. Winning only comes secondary. It’s about how we play the game.”