MANILA, Philippines – Colegio de San Juan de Letran is not only bringing home NCAA Season 91 basketball championship, but the Knights will also get a hefty bonus from Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao, who made his first official appearance as Letran’s team manager in Game 1 after being appointed this past July, pledged that he will give P100,000 to each player of Letran after ending the 5-year title reign of San Beda College in winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday, October 29.
“Tig-100,000 (100,000 each),” Pacquiao quipped in a video by Spin.ph as the Knights and the entire coaching staff were celebrating at the dugout.
An email and text to NCAA commissioner Bai Cristobal requesting clarity on whether there is a league rule prohibiting cash bonuses was not immediately returned.
In the post-Game 1 interview, Letran head coach Aldin Ayo admitted that Pacquiao’s presence had given the squad an extra push.
“I said in my past interviews that his name is already a motivation to us,” he stated.
Boxing’s only eight-division champion is also the player-coach of the PBA’s Mahindra Enforcers and is also enlisted as a reserve in the Powervit Pilipinas Aguilas, a team which competes in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). – Rappler.com