DEPUTY House Speaker and sportsman Mikee Romero sweetened the pot for Filipino athletes vying for medals in the Tokyo Olympics.

Romero, a business magnate who donned the national colors in shooting and polo, announced on Tuesday his own set of cash incentives for what he described as "the strongest ever Philippine delegation" to the Olympics.

"Out of my company's expenses I will also put an additional motivation of P3 million for a gold, P2 million for a silver and and P1 million for a bronze," Romero told the online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum.

"That is my ambag [contribution]. That's the least I can do," he told the forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Milo, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Romero, who was joined in the forum by NorthPort's Erick Arejola, is pinning his hopes on golfer Yuka Saso, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz and skateboarder Margielyn Didal.

"Triple threat," said the Philippine Basketball Association team owner.

Romero expects Team Philippines, which also boasts of world champions Carlos Yulo of gymnastics and Nesthy Petecio of boxing, to deliver two to five medals of any color.

"I'm hoping five. If we don't reach two [medals] it's not a failure, but I expect two to five medals—any color. Definitely, this is our strongest team in the Olympics," he told the public sports program powered by Smart with Upstream Media as official webcast partner.

Each gold for any Filipino athlete or athletes in Tokyo is now worth P33 million, silver P17 million and bronze P7 million—from the Philippine Sports Commission, Smart-PLDT-Maynilad and San Miguel Corp. It's the biggest cash bonanza ever put up in the history of Philippine sports.

The PSC, under the law, has put up P10 million for gold, P5 million for silver and P2 million for bronze and business tycoons Manuel V. Pangilinan, and Ramon S. Ang then matched the government incentive.

Romero, who won a bronze in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in polo, said the cash incentive would only get bigger once the medals come in.

"For sure, there will be more. We in the House [of Representatives] can come up with an addendum for more funds to reward the athletes. I think it can reach P50 million [for gold]," he said.

"Looking at the list I consider this our strongest lineup ever. These are champions worldwide. Their track record and background show," Romero. "The best of the best Filipino athletes are here. Only Manny Pacquiao is missing on the list."

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