Laoag Palaro athletes get cash incentives

LAOAG CITY – Six student-athletes from this city who represented Region 1 during the Palarong Pambansa 2024 and won medals received cash incentives from the city government on Wednesday.

They are Ariana Dawn Rabi who won gold in the discus throw for the athletics girls elementary; Ma. Christine Joy Taliente, silver medalist in the 800-meter run for athletics girls secondary; Irish Bea Dela Cruz, Taekwondo Secondary Girls, Light middle weight; Chloe Ysabelle Garduque and Ethan Josef Martin, silver medalists in archery under olympic team competition; and Jeremy Garo, bronze medalist in the bantam weight for taekwondo secondary boys division.

Rabi received P20,000 and those who won silver and bronze medals received P14,000, and P10,000 respectively.

"These athletes deserve every single centavo that we gave them considering how long and hard they trained, the sacrifices that their respective families made, plus the pressure and stress in the athletic competition itself," Laoag City mayor Michael Keon said after he personally handed the monetary reward to the athletes in his office.

Keon said the city government of Laoag will continue to support the athletes and inspire them to become world-class athletes someday.

The Laoag delegation have the most number of athletes for Region 1 in the 2024 Palarong Pambansa held in Cebu from July 11-15.

Keon, being the head of the defunct Project Gintong Alay sports program during the Marcos Sr. administration said sports has always been one of his priorities, nurturing young talents promoting youth development, and fostering a culture of excellence through sports.

To improve performance of local athletes, the city government has also initially alloted P15 million for the establishment of a track field and other sports facilities.

The budget covers the creation of the Laoag City Sports Development Council for the 15 clustered villages, to be led by sports coordinators from the Department of Education Schools Division. (PNA)