NEW CLARK CITY — Fast-food giant Jollibee Food Corp. turned over P5 million for the improvement of the National Academy of Sports (NAS) on Monday, Oct. 7.

The donation, which will be used to procure additional equipment for different sports inside the sprawling facility, should come as a huge boost for the development of the students who will soon become the next Carlos Yulo, Hidilyn Diaz, EJ Obiena, among others.

“Actually, ‘yong donation ng Jollibee, is worth P5 million pesos, so ang binahagi nila, binigyan kami ng option… as to where it should be,” said NAS executive director Josephine Joy Reyes.

“Syempre ang pinili namin is mabigyan sila ng sports equipment and ma-enhance ‘yong ibang sports facilities namin to be used ng mga students namin,” she added.

The ceremonial turnover was witnessed by Yulo, Education Secretary Sonny Angara, and Jollibee Philippines President Ferns Yu Jr.

“Nagpapasalamat po ako sa NAS na nagbibigay ng access to have better training and libreng facilities that build future athletes,” said Yulo.

“Gusto ko lang dugtungan din ‘yong motto ng Jollibee ng bida ang saya, pati na rin tayong mga atleta,” he added.

The NAS Annual Search for Competent, Exceptional, Notable and Talented Student-Athlete Scholars or NASCENT SAS Program offers 8 focus sports including Aquatics (swimming), Athletics (running events), Badminton, Gymnastics (rhythmic), Judo, Table Tennis, Taekwondo and Weightlifting.

Aside from honing its students in their chosen discipline, NAS provides meals and accommodations and monthly allowances. The program is open for natural Filipino student-athletes who are in Grade 7 and 8 levels.

NAS campus is currently in Phase 1 (Admin and Academic Building and gym) and the second part (Sports Science building, stack housing, and gymnastics center) is being targeted to be completed in August next year.