Chooks-to-Go continues to honor the sports heroes of the past by giving back to them.
Leopoldo Serantes, who bagged the bronze in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, will receive P100,000 per month for life for his service to the country.
It’s a much-needed help for the 59-year-old native of Bicol as he is currently suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and has been confined in Veterans Memorial Medical Center.
“Just like with Onyok Velasco, we cannot just forget the sports heroes that gave honor to our country in the past. We should continue to honor their legacy,” said Chooks-to-Go president Ronald Mascariñas.
“In the case of Leopoldo Serantes, we decided to give him a monthly allowance of P100,000 for the rest of his life so that he can live with dignity befitting a living hero”.
Serantes, the sixth Filipino overall to win an Olympic medal and a gold medalist in the Southeast Asian Games, is one of the childhood heroes of Velasco.
Velasco was the one who helped Mascariñas track the whereabouts of Serantes after a netizen in Jhay San Antonio raised it on his Facebook page.
“Si Leopoldo Serantes, isa yang alamat sa boxing. Nu’ng naguumpisa pa lang kami, nandiyan na siya. Siya na ‘yung tinitingala na namin,” said Velasco, a silver medalist in the 1996 Atlanta Games. “Nu’ng nag-Olympics siya, du’n na nagimpusa ‘yung pagkaidolo namin sa kanya. Naka-medal siya tapos hindi rin siya ganu’n kalaking tao, maliit lang pero naka-medal at talagang malakas.”
“Naisipan ko na ilapit siya sa Chooks-to-Go kasi natulungan din ako. Si Serantes, nangangailangan din ng tulong. Nangangailangan talaga siya ng tulong.”
According to Leopoldo’s daughter Leodelia, her dad has been suffering from COPD for months. She further bared that their family had been struggling to cope with the expenses.
“Kailangan po niya ng suporta parang kailangan pa niya lumapit para tulungan siya ng iba,” said Leodelia. Grateful are Velasco and Leodelia for the gift Chooks-to-Go has given to them as it will all go to the medical bills of Leopoldo.
“Sobrang laking tulong po nito para sa tatay ko. Hindi na siya mamomoblema sa araw-araw niya na gastusin para sa oxygen, sa gastusan niya sa gamutan na pang buhay,” she said.
“Kung nandito po si Leopoldo, baka sabihin niya, hulog rin kayo ng langit sa kanya.”