Busan heroes feted tonite

The biggest and perhaps the most exciting free concert that puts the country’s sports heroes alongside top celebrities and entertainers unwraps at 8 tonight at the PhilSports Arena (formerly Ultra) in Pasig City.

Dubbed The Alay Sa Gintong Medalya: The Thanksgiving Concert, the event fetes the medalists in the Busan 14th Asian Games as well as all national athletes, coaches and sports officials who put in their share in the field of athletic competition in the year that is about to pass.

"Tonight we celebrate the conquest and the effort that our Filipino athletes did in 2002, specifically in the Busan Asian Games where the country booked a significant improvement," said Eric Buhain, chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

The PSC and Samsung Electronics Phils. Corp. headed by its president and CEO Sang Youl Eom are co-presentors of the concert which will be highlighted by Buhain and Sang giving out cash bonuses to the Busan medal winners led by gold medalists Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Django Bustamante, Antonio Lining, Paeng Nepomuceno and RJ Bautista.

The windfall from Samsung is worth more than P4 million, with the gold medal winners receiving a whopping P.5 million each, the silver medalists P250,000 each and the bronze medalists P50,000 each. The Samsung incentive is distinct from the incentives the same medalists will receive from government through the Athletes and Coaches Incentives Act, which will be given out in appropriate ceremonies at the Casino Filipino Parañaque on Monday.