Team RP gets GMA bonus in Palace call

The Filipino athletes competing in next week’s Olympics in Beijing will get an early bonus as President Arroyo is set to give 13 of the 15 Olympians $1,000 each when they make a courtesy call at 1:30 p.m. at Malacañang today.

From the Palace, the President, the athletes and the country’s top sports officials, led by Philippine Sports Commission chair William “Butch” Ramirez and Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr., will hear a mass at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

The athletic contingent will be without archer Mark Javier and shooter Eric Ang who left for Beijing yesterday as they are the first to plunge into action in the quadrennial games slated Aug. 8-25.

Boxer Harry Tañamor may also miss the Palace visit as he is still in Baguio for the final phase of training.

Leading the Olympians are swimmers Miguel Molina, Ryan Arabejo, Daniel Coakley, JB Walsh and Christel Simms, taekwondo jins Toni Rivero and Tshomlee Go, divers Rexel Ryan Fabriga and Sheila Mae Perez, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz and long jumpers Henry Dagmil and Marestella Torres.

The bulk of the RP delegation will fly to Beijing on Aug. 5.

Before the Palace call, the athletes will meet with the country’s sports medicine experts headed by Dr. Raul Canlas this morning for the final briefing.

The President’s bonus is apart from the P10.5 million incentives put up by various sectors for the gold medal winner.

Petron has also offered a separate P1 million bonus for the gold medalist in taekwondo with the silver and bronze medal winners set to receive P600,000 and P300,000, respectively.

A former marketing man also pledged P500,000 for the Filipino silver medalist in Beijing.