Every athlete is either in the gym or attending training and eating outside to use our privilege is a luxury for us.

AGATHA Wong displays beauty and power as she fights for the rights of her fellow athletes. yummie dingding @tribunephl_yumi

Southeast Asian (SEA) Games double gold medalist Agatha Wong lashed out the establishment for not giving her the benefit that a national athlete should get.

The newest wushu darling was denied of the Republic Act 10699 or the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act, mandating the businesses to provide 20 percent discount to national athletes like her.

The incident happened last Saturday at a restaurant in Quezon City and apparently the establishment was not aware of the existing law as the venue refused to give her the discount after presenting her Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) card.

“My point is, every athlete is either in the gym or attending training and eating outside to use our privilege is a luxury for us,” Wong told Daily Tribune yesterday.

“It is sometimes irritating already,” the 21-year-old athlete added.

Wong, who won the gold medals in the women’s taolu taijijian and taolu taijiquan events of the biennial meet, was with her grandmother when the incident happened.

After asking for their bill in the restaurant, the manager only honored the senior citizen card of her grandmother after 30 minutes of waiting and it took the establishment to confirm her benefit as a national athlete.

“They will really let you wait. And it was time-consuming,” Wong said.

“We are very busy on our training and eating with our family and friends outside are moments.”

“And there are a lot of times where I was denied or have waited for so long before an establishment honors my discount,” she added. “Being an athlete is already a burden to us because we don’t always win in competitions so this benefits really helps us.”

Based on the Republic Act 10699, or the law that expands the coverage of incentives granted to national athletes and coaches, establishments have to give 20 percent discount to national athletes who utilize transportation services, hotels and other lodging establishments, restaurants and recreation center and purchase of medicine and sports equipment anywhere in the country.

They also stand to get 20 percent discount in theaters, cinemas, concert halls, carnivals and other places of culture, leisure and amusement for their exclusive use and enjoyment.

Athletes and coaches are also granted free medical and dental consultations in government hospitals.

But the law has yet to be fully implemented despite the cooperation between the PSC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) early this year.

PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez said they are just waiting for the issuance of the Revenue Regulation from the BIR so that the law can be fully implemented.

“We know this is long overdue but rest assured we are doing what we can, coordinating with the concerned government agencies to effect the full implementation,” Ramirez said in a statement.

“We hope for the full implementation by first quarter of 2020 so our athletes could swiftly avail of the benefits.”