CHOOKS-TO-GO will provide Seoul 1998 Olympics boxing bronze medalist Leopoldo Serantes P100,000 a month for the rest of his life for his service to the country.
The 59-year-old native of Bicol is suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and has been confined at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.
“Just like with [Mansueto] Onyok Velasco, we cannot just forget the sports heroes who gave honor to our country in the past,” Chooks-to-Go President Ronald Mascariñas said. “We should continue to honor their legacy.”
“We decided to give Leopoldo Serrantes a monthly allowance of P100,000 for the rest of his life so that he can live with dignity befitting a living hero,” Mascariñas added.
Serantes, the sixth Filipino to win an Olympic medal and a gold medalist in the Southeast Asian Games, is one of Velasco’s childhood heroes.
Velasco helped Mascariñas track Serantes, who Jhay San Antonio mentioned in his Facebook post as a Filipino sports hero needing attention and support.
According to Leopoldo’s daughter Leodelia, her dad has been suffering from COPD for months. She bared that the family has been struggling to cope with hospital expenses.
Velasco and Leodelia thanked Chooks-to-Go for the support.
“This will be a big help to my father, he’ll no longer worry on how to pay his bills,” Leodilia Serantes said. “Thank you very much Sir Ronald.”
Filipinos who want to help Serantes could deposit funds to his personal bank account Landbank (Savings 2376111326).