Thu | 12.12.2019 | 06:20 PM

Members of the PAGCOR Board and officers of Dancesport Council of the Philippines join the country’s dancesport gold medalists.

After impressively adding ten golds and two silvers to the country’s medal harvest on the first day of the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the Dancesport Council of the Philippines (DSCPI) looks back with gratitude to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) support to dancesport athletes.

DSCPI President Rebecca Garcia said PAGCOR’s financial support enormously helps in training the athletes who are vying to win in international dancesport championships, such as the SEA Games.

“All our four couples who dominated the Dancesport’s Standard and Latin categories benefited from PAGCOR’s aid. We were able to send them to Italy to attend a rigid dance training as part of their preparations for the SEA Games,” she said.

Among the dancesport athletes who trained in Italy were Sean Mischa Aranar and Ana Leonila Nualla who snagged three gold medals for the Tango, Viennese Waltz and Five Dance Steps events; and Mark Jayson Gayon and Mary Joy Reginen who bagged two gold medals in Standard Waltz and Slow Foxtrot, and a silver medal in Quickstep.

Also, the pairs who competed in the Dancesport’s Latin Category trained abroad with the state-gaming agency’s support. Wilbert Aunzo and Pearl Marie Cañeda won three gold medals with their impressive rendition of Samba, Chacha and Rumba. Meanwhile, Michael Angelo Marquez and Stephanie Sabalo added two more golds after garnering the highest points in Paso Doble and Latin Five Dance event. The pair also snagged a silver medal in Jive.

Aside from the dance camp abroad, the athletes also trained under Polish coach Alina Nowak, a certified world dancesport champion and Alexander Melnikov, a Russian dancesport athlete and adjudicator. Both dancesport experts flew in to the Philippines to train the Philippines’ winning pairs.

“We could not have done this without PAGCOR. Every year, DSCPI sends athletes abroad to compete in international dancesport events. Our aim here is not only to win but to give them the international exposure that they need,” Garcia furthered.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo, a dancesport enthusiast and a staunch supporter of the Philippine Dancesport team, said that investing in the Filipino athlete is something that the state-run gaming agency takes pride in.

“Whenever we support our athletes, we also give our country a chance to shine internationally. We saw this during the opening of the 30th SEA Games when all eight Filipino dancesport contenders ruled over its opponents from Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Indeed, our direct assistance to these dancers was spent wisely on training with the best coaches abroad, who further imparted their dance acumen to promising protégés,” she explained.

Domingo added that PAGCOR’s support to Philippine Dancesport is just a tip of the iceberg. “PAGCOR has been instrumental in producing top Filipino athletes with our mandated remittance to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).”

Since the current management took over, PAGCOR’s remittances to the PSC has reached P5.71 billion.

PAGCOR also provides cash incentives to national athletes and coaches who win in international sports competitions and bring honor and recognition to the country.

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