The award was announced Sunday by former Philcycling (Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines) president Mikee Romero after learning that a unification race has been agreed by factions within the cycling community that would lead to the settlement of sport’s leadership row.
The two groups, one headed Ricky Cruz and Col. Arnulfo Taberdo and the other by Tagaytay Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, have reportedly agreed to conduct a joint elimination race to select the Philippne cycling team to the Asian games.
“The call for a unification race is one big step to unite all stakeholders in the cycling community, so I am supporting this move so that we can have a strong and competitive team for the Asian Games,” said Romero, who is the chief executive officer (CEO) and president of Harbour Centre. “So I congratulate POC for its effort to unite the two groups.”
Under Romero’s financial package, a silver medalist will receive P500,000, the bronze medalist P300,000. Romero’s financial incentive is different from that of the Philippine Sports Commission which also provides cash bonuses to all medalists.
At the same time, Romero, who has been away from the cycling scene for seven months, urged the group of Taberdo and Cruz and Tolentino to settle their differences amicably for the sake of the sport.
“I’m not anymore a party to any group nor a partisan to any side but I just want a united Philcycling Philippine team to the Asian Games,” added Romero, who is also known as having built a dynasty in the PBL that saw his Harbour Centre team win seven straight championships.
With a little over three months left before the Asian Games, Romero said the Filipino cyclists should now intensify their training knowing how stiff the competition is in the quadrennial event.
“We can’t achieve our goal if we remain fragmented, so I’m calling on all stakeholders to join in the race called by the POC,” said the co-owner of the Philippine Patriots that won the inaugural staging of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) last March
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