Leopoldo Serantes, Olympic bronze medalist, secures monthly allowance for life
Leopoldo Serantes, a boxer who bagged a bronze medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, will receive a monthly allowance for life from roast chicken chain store Chooks To Go.
A cash incentive for life
Last Tuesday, August 17, Chooks To Go President Ronald Mascariñas took to Facebook to announce that Serantes will get P100,000 monthly, saying,
“We honor another forgotten hero in 1988 Summer Olympics bronze medalist and former soldier Leopoldo Serantes with PHP 100,000.00 monthly allowance for life,”
Surely, it is a much-needed aid for the 59-year-old from Bicol, who has been bedridden at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.
Currently, Serantes suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to Chooks To Go’s Facebook page.
Mascariñas wrote,
“We want to see our sports hero who brought so much pride and honor to our country live a life with dignity befitting a living hero. Mabuhay ka, Leopoldo Serantes!”
Tracking his whereabouts
It was Onyok Velasco, silver medalist from the 1996 Atlanta Games, who helped Mascariñas track the whereabouts of Serantes.
Previously, Chooks To Go rewarded Velasco with his own store and cash incentive.
Velasco discovered Serantes through a viral Facebook post by a netizen named Jhay San Antonio.
Thus, the boxer, through the Chooks To Go Facebook page, said,
“Si Leopoldo Serantes, isa yang alamat sa boxing. Nung naguumpisa pa lang kami, nandiyan na siya. Siya na yung tinitingala na namin. Nung nag-Olympics siya, dun na nagumpisa yung pagkaidolo namin sa kanya. Naka-medal siya tapos hindi rin siya ganun kalaking tao, maliit lang pero naka-medal at talagang malakas.
Moreover, Serantes’ daughter Leodelia said her father had been suffering from COPD for months now. She said,
“Kailangan po niya ng suporta parang kailangan pa niya lumapit para tulungan siya ng iba. Kaya ako, naawa po ako sa papa ko dahil pag nagkwekwento siya sa akin tungkol sa mga nabigay niyang karangalan noon pero ngayon parang binalewala po siya. Parang nilagay na lang siya sa isang tabi na hindi na siya kilala ng karamihan.”
Furthermore, she said that the monthly allowance would be a huge help for her father’s medical needs.
“Hindi na siya mamomroblema sa araw-araw niya na gastusin para sa oxygen, sa gastusan niya sa gamutan na pang buhay,”
So, people who wish to give donations to further help Serantes can deposit money in his personal savings account:
