Arroyo to give cash gifts to SEA Games medalists

A Christmas bonus awaits Filipino medalists in the ongoing 24th Southeast Asian Games in Thailand. Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose "Peping" Cojuangco said Wednesday this was the assurance he got from Malacañang. "I have been informed by Malacañang that President (Gloria Macapagal) Arroyo will give all of our Southeast Asian Games medalists bonuses, regardless whether they win the gold, silver or bronze," Cojuangco said in a report from the Philippine delegation. Cojuangco made the declaration after watching swimmers from Team Philippines perform at the end of the championships. "This should be good news for all of our SEA Games achievers. However, I was not informed how much they will be getting," Cojuangco said. He pointed out that the cash gifts were on top of the regular incentives given by the government through the Philippine Sports Commission for SEAG medalists. Under the scheme, an individual gold medalist gets P100,000; the silver is worth P50,000 and the bronze P10,000. As of this posting, the Philippines has a total of 141 medals: 32 gold, 42 silver and 67 bronze. - GMANews.TV