Filipino national coaches to get huge salary increase

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino national team coaches will receive their much-awaited due as the Philippine Sports Commission recently approved substantially raising their monthly salary to encourage all of them to focus training their athletes full time.

From $1,200 or P60,000 a month, Class A coaches will now receive $2,000 or about a little more than P100,000 while Class A assistant coaches will get $1,500 or P75,000, according to PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez.

The development came a month after the Philippines romped away with its second overall title in the 30th Southeast Asian Games with a historic 149-gold, 117-silver and 121-bronze medal harvest.

“We just want to motivate all our coaches to work harder and also reward them for a job well done,” said Ramirez.

PSC commissioner Ramon Fernandez, for his part, said the move should also convince national coaches to focus on the national teams instead of doing private coaching and training on the side to augment their old salary.

“First, they should be qualified and will assess their past performance to determine if they deserve the raise and still have to come up with qualifications,” said Fernandez. “And second, they have to coach full time.”

Boxing coach and Olympic bronze medal winner Roel Velasco, who is classified as Class B, welcomed the good news. His older brother, Nolito, is their Class A coach.

“For me, since I was still a boxer back then and until now that I’m coach, I always work hard to make my boxers’ as well as my dream to become a champion come true,” said Velasco. “I’m thankful to government and the PSC for giving notice to us coaches.

“It will give all of us high morale that will make all of us work harder than usual,” he added.

The new raise moves the local coaches closer to the amount received by their foreign counterparts, who usually receive a minimum salary of $3,000 a month.

Class B and C coaches, whose old salaries were P40,000 and P35,000, respectively, will likewise get an increase.