YUKA Saso and teammates in the Philippine women's golf team that won two gold medals in the 18th Asian Games have donated incentives amounting to millions of pesos to the national golf body to preserve their amateur status.
In a statement released through National Golf Association of the Philippines secretary-general Bones Floro, Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan and LK Go said they have no choice but to decline incentives from the government and the private sector 'due to the immutable circumstances.'
The trio issued the statement shortly after Saso joined fellow Asiad medalists in a ceremony in Malacanang, where President Duterte threw in an additional P2 million in incentives for gold-medal winners.
Under the incentive package, Saso stands to receive a total of P9.3 million for winning the individual gold medal in Jakarta and being part of the gold-winning team. Individual bronze medalist Pagdanganan was to get P2.5M and Go P2M.
"Due to immutable circumstances, we are unable to accept any and all forms of financial reward. At present, two of us are actively playing in the NCAA in the United States, with the third, soon to follow," said the three in the statement.
"We will automatically lose our amateur status the moment we keep these incentives, as well as the opportunity to continue representing the Philippines in the future. "
The amount will now go to the NGAP to fund its golf development program under a donation scheme undertaken after consultation with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, according to Floro.
"We unanimously agreed that if it were possible to donate this money to support the national golf program – and thus help other aspiring golfers reach their goals – this would be the best scenario for us," the statement read.
"After consulting the world golf governing body, The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, we were advised that this was a viable option. We are thus confident that the NGAP will allocate these resources in a prudent, equitable, and ideal manner, consistent with our intentions. "
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