Baguio, Philippines, April 23, 2020: A young member of the Philippine Muay Thai team has donated her one-month allowance from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) for the purchase of relief goods for some of the city’s indigent families.
Islay Erika Bomogao said that she gave her monthly stipend to help in the relief efforts of her councilor father – Benny Bomogao
The 18-year-old silver medalist at the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games said that she would also give her stipend for this coming month for the relief efforts.
“The first batch was spent for 50 single parents,” she told the Philippine News Agency.
“The next batch, from my incoming allowance, will be used to purchase the same goods. But we still do not know who will be the beneficiaries yet. We will see,” she said.
The food pack contained milk, sugar, canned goods, noodles and rice.
The young Bomogao, who recently enrolled at the University of Baguio for a degree in teaching, said that it was her father who inspired her.
“My dad donated his pay for a month to jumpstart a relief effort for our indigent fellow Baguio citizens,” she said, referring to the popular mountain resort city.
“He pledged his salary while asking for help from willing donors. So I wanted to help and gave my allowance. I got a lot of blessings last year so I thought that this is a nice way of sharing those blessings,” she said.
Her SEA Games silver medal entitled her to a PHP300,000 (6,000 USD) incentive from the PSC, aside from a PHP25,000 (500 USD) Christmas bonus. She is also entitled to a PHP20,000 (400 USD) cash reward from the city.
“Hopefully this will also inspire other athletes to be kind and help,” she said.