National coaches get due

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

From $1,200 or P60,000 a month, Class A coaches will now receive $2,000 or 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 team instead of doing private coaching and training on the side to augment their old salary.

“First, they should be qualified and will be assessed to determine if they deserve the raise,” said Fernandez. “Second, they have to coach full-time.”

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

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