Victorious athletes go back home to a hero’s welcome and showered with praises and a windfall of cash and gifts.
But as they fade from the limelight, some sports heroes face a bleak future as they failed to plan for their retirement.
Take the case of the 1964 Tokyo Olympian Anthony Villanueva, who dubbed himself “a forgotten Olympic silver medalist.”
He died a poor man in 2014. He was bedridden for several years before dying in his sleep at his small apartment in Laguna.
Another Olympian, 1988 Seoul Olympics bronze medalist Leopoldo Serantes is currently at a hospital, struggling against a lingering illness. But unlike Villanueva, Serrantes gets regular cash aid from the Philippine Sports Commission for some of his medical needs.
Just recently, sportsman Ronald Mascarinas of Chooks-to-Go came to know about Serantes’ condition and gifted him with a P100,000 lifetime pension.
And as a former military serviceman, he gets free medical treatment from the Veterans Memorial Hospital where he is now confined.
There is now a growing sentiment in the sports community to provide a monthly pension fund for retired national athletes and coaches who have made the country proud during their prime.
“Opo susuportahan ko ‘yan, magandang panukala ho ‘yan (if ever),” said Roel Velasco, 1992 Barcelona Olympics bronze medalist and now national boxing coach.
National coach Ronald Chavez, a multi-medal winner in the Southeast Asian Games and a former Asian champion, said the pension will certainly help especially former coaches who don’t get more attention.
“Lalo na ang mga coaches kasi pagkatapos ng magandang performance (ng athlete) medyo ‘di na nga mapansin mga coaches kasi puro athlete na lang dahil sa may medal na bitbit. ‘Di nila naisip na ang coaches ang naghirap din diyan. ‘Di rin naman aasenso ang mga athlete pag wala ang mga coaches,” said Chavez.
Deputy Speaker Eric Martinez promised to study the possibility of coming up with a bill for this purpose.