Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Patrick ‘Pato’ Gregorio. Photo from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).MANILA — The country's national athletes and coaches will receive an across-the-board increase in their allowances, starting August 2025.
New Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Patrick "Pato" Gregorio announced the P5,000 raise on Tuesday during a general assembly with the country’s National Sports Associations (NSAs) at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
“This is across the board. Why? Because we realized that there are still so many athletes getting P10,000 per month,” said Gregorio. “Mas mababa po yun sa minimum wage. How can our athletes survive?”
Also present in the GA are Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Atty. Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino, Congressmen Roberto V. Puno, Richard Gomez, and Michael Dy III, and Gregorio also asked for their support on this initiative.
“What is the cost of this across-the-board increase starting August? P10 million,” he said. “Pero nandyan naman po yung mga kaibigan natin sa kongreso, dagdagan niyo na lang po budget natin.”
“Pero sa akin po, let’s give it to them. I’m sure you’re happy with this proposal, Php 5,000 across the board. This is not a political play. This comes from the bottom of our hearts. We cannot imagine a minimum Php 10,000 monthly stipend for our athletes and our coaches,” he added.
Aside from the allowance increase, Gregorio also shared other immediate actions that his term has started, such as the restarting of the procurement of athletes’ training tracksuits, and the reactivation of athletes’ cafeterias in the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, PhilSports Arena, and PSC Baguio with a new food concessionaire.
In addition, a 24/7 help desk for athletes will also be established, distribution of athletes’ and coaches’ allowances and DTRs will be streamlined and reduced to five days, and the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the development of the Philippine Sports Training Center has also been already approved by the PSC Board.
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