The Philippine Sports Commission will maintain a status quo on the allowances of members of the national team — at least for now.
PSC chairperson Jose Emmanuel "Noli" Eala assured late Friday that they will maintain the current rates of the allowances of national athletes preparing for major international tournaments.
Right now, elite athletes receive P45,000 a month while those in the developmental team receive P10,200.
There are 996 athletes, 262 coaches, 280 para athletes, and 82 para coaches in the PSC payroll.
The government sports agency coughs out around P41 million a month, which it draws from its National Sports Development Fund — or its share from the revenue of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, Bureau of Customs, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and other government-owned and controlled corporations.
"Allowances of the national athletes will remain the same," said Eala after emerging from a six-hour meeting with PSC commissioner Olivia "Bong" Coo, PSC executive director Atty. Guillermo Iroy and other ranking PSC officials.
Eala, who managed the salaries of Smart Gilas players during his stint as executive director of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, said they will reclassify the current rates of allowances that will pave the way for a possible increase.
But first, they have to review the criteria for reclassification to make sure that only the deserving will get an increase.
"No reclassification of national athletes will first be done pending the review of criteria, so allowances will either be the same or increased," Eala added.
Eala and Coo are still waiting for the appointment of three more commissioners before they can formally convene in the board of commissioners and tackle the criteria for reclassification of athletes.
Previous Daily Tribune reports stated that the PSC chief already nominated five executives to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. with the hopes of expediting the appointments.
