Baguio gives more cash, honors to Petecio, Paalam

Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam–INQUIRER file photos

BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — The city council on Monday discussed plans for releasing cash incentives to two Olympic boxers with ties to a local university.

Silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam will also be honored as “adopted residents” of Baguio, having enrolled at the University of Baguio (UB) while training here on the road to their success at the Tokyo Olympics, said Councilor Levy Lloyd Orcales.

Petecio, a native of Davao del Sur, and Paalam of Cagayan de Oro City, could be entitled to P400,000 in incentives each, said Orcales, chair of the committee on sports development.

Amended Sports Code

Under an amended Baguio Sports Code passed in March, gold medalists will receive P500,000 while bronze medalists will receive P300,000.

The code grants financial support for city-based athletes who represent Baguio in regional and national competitions. Normally, the incentives and awards are given strictly to Baguio residents, but a provision gives the city government more leeway for national athletes it formally “adopts,” Orcales said.

Petecio was enrolled in UB’s international hotel and tourism program, and was described as an “extremely diligent student” by one of her teachers, former Mayor Peter Rey Bautista, whose family owns the school. Paalam completed his senior high school at UB.

Bautista credited his late grandfather, UB founder Fernando Bautista, for developing a sports scholarship program for athletes who train in the city.

Two other athletes who enrolled at UB also participated in the Olympics, but boxer Irish Magno lost her bout. It was not clear from the city council’s discussion on Monday whether boxer Eumir Marcial, a bronze medalist in Tokyo and a Philippine Air Force sergeant, would receive an incentive from the local government.

—VINCENT CABREZA